When does McCarthy start?

[Cliff]

At the start of the team's 2024 training camp, it seemed like the odds were very high that the Minnesota Vikings were going to open up the regular season with Sam Darnold as their starting quarterback and let rookie J.J. McCarthy learn from the sideline.

Well, after more than a handful of practices during the last two weeks, McCarthy has some now thinking Darnold isn't as much of a lock to be the Vikings' Week 1 starter.

Minnesota still has three preseason games to play before they have to make an official decision. But the thought of the Vikings beginning the 2024 regular season with McCarthy as their starter no longer seems like an insane pipe dream.

During an appearance on KFXN-FM's "Bumper To Bumper with Dan Barreiro" on Wednesday, O'Connell was asked if he hasn't ruled out the possibility of Minnesota going with McCarthy as the team's starting signal-caller for their regular-season opener against the New York Giants.

The Vikings head coach then provided the following answer.

"I definitely don't want to be in a world where anybody shows up to [the TCO Performance Center] everyday thinking they've got a ceiling, a time stamp, on them of what the expectations are."

Earlier in the conversation, O'Connell also said that he believes in "playing the best player that gives you the best chance to win."

So, basically, Minnesota is still going to give McCarthy as much time as he needs to develop. But if he goes out during the next few weeks and blows away O'Connell and the rest of the Vikings coaching staff with his performance, then he's going to have a legitimate and realistic shot at starting in Week 1 over Darnold.

The fact that the regular-season opener is less than two months away and O'Connell still isn't 100 percent committed to Darnold as Minnesota's Week 1 starter speaks to how much McCarthy has been able to impress the Vikings ever since the team drafted him in April.

[VikingLord]

KOC has a bright future in politics once his pro coaching days are over, but let's face it - he's got to go with the guy who gives the team the best chance to win, and if that guy is McCarthy this year, then it would be coaching malpractice for him to start Darnold even if Darnold brings more experience to the table.

Also, and I don't want to beat this point into the ground, it isn't like the Vikings went into this offseason planning to acquire Sam Darnold to replace Kirk Cousins. Their hand was forced at QB when Cousins decided to go to the Falcons. Darnold was the vet QB they went with, and that is fine, but if they had it the way they probably envisioned it Cousins would still be the starting QB, and I'm pretty sure that even if McCarthy clearly outperformed him in the preseason Cousins would still be the de-facto starting QB this year.

The door is wide open for McCarthy to start what I hope is a legendary career. He seems to be eager to seize the day too, and honestly, if he is starting the first week I am going to be more optimistic about the team's chances in the near future than I've been in a very long time.

[makila]

I saw a tweet that had a quote from a beat writer earlier today (I can't remember which), and he said he thought JJM was going to be the #1 qb come week 1. He then said, also, that neither looked like a starting NFL qb right now.

Cringed and chuckled at the same time I think. Haha.

Also have come more around to the general idea of, if koc thinks he's the better qb, start him. Let's see what we have. And I agree with what VL said above, kinda optimistic too if he is the guy they put out there.

And still don't mind the Darnold signing at all. Even if he's qb2 all year.

[CharVike]

KOC has a bright future in politics once his pro coaching days are over, but let's face it - he's got to go with the guy who gives the team the best chance to win, and if that guy is McCarthy this year, then it would be coaching malpractice for him to start Darnold even if Darnold brings more experience to the table.

Also, and I don't want to beat this point into the ground, it isn't like the Vikings went into this offseason planning to acquire Sam Darnold to replace Kirk Cousins. Their hand was forced at QB when Cousins decided to go to the Falcons. Darnold was the vet QB they went with, and that is fine, but if they had it the way they probably envisioned it Cousins would still be the starting QB, and I'm pretty sure that even if McCarthy clearly outperformed him in the preseason Cousins would still be the de-facto starting QB this year.

The door is wide open for McCarthy to start what I hope is a legendary career. He seems to be eager to seize the day too, and honestly, if he is starting the first week I am going to be more optimistic about the team's chances in the near future than I've been in a very long time.

Their hand wasn't forced they created it. The Bears created their hand that gave them the first pick in the draft. KOC has said JJM becoming Minnesota's starter is open-ended. Hello KOC you can't wait 2 or 3 years because you will be gone. KAM stated mold and play. He don't even know what that means. Just look at Ingram's first year. It was a joke. The guy looked like he never pass blocked in his life. I do think KOC wanted Cousins back. He didn't get 100 million because he sucks like Darnold. IMO the K-Team aren't on the same page. It took Speilman and Zim more than a couple years to end in this spot. If JJM can't beat out Darnold then.........

[VikingLord]

KOC has a bright future in politics once his pro coaching days are over, but let's face it - he's got to go with the guy who gives the team the best chance to win, and if that guy is McCarthy this year, then it would be coaching malpractice for him to start Darnold even if Darnold brings more experience to the table.

Also, and I don't want to beat this point into the ground, it isn't like the Vikings went into this offseason planning to acquire Sam Darnold to replace Kirk Cousins. Their hand was forced at QB when Cousins decided to go to the Falcons. Darnold was the vet QB they went with, and that is fine, but if they had it the way they probably envisioned it Cousins would still be the starting QB, and I'm pretty sure that even if McCarthy clearly outperformed him in the preseason Cousins would still be the de-facto starting QB this year.

The door is wide open for McCarthy to start what I hope is a legendary career. He seems to be eager to seize the day too, and honestly, if he is starting the first week I am going to be more optimistic about the team's chances in the near future than I've been in a very long time.

Their hand wasn't forced they created it. The Bears created their hand that gave them the first pick in the draft. KOC has said JJM becoming Minnesota's starter is open-ended. Hello KOC you can't wait 2 or 3 years because you will be gone. KAM stated mold and play. He don't even know what that means. Just look at Ingram's first year. It was a joke. The guy looked like he never pass blocked in his life. I do think KOC wanted Cousins back. He didn't get 100 million because he sucks like Darnold. IMO the K-Team aren't on the same page. It took Speilman and Zim more than a couple years to end in this spot. If JJM can't beat out Darnold then.........

I think you're being a little hard on KOC and KAM. By all accounts they wanted Cousins back and were counting on getting him back, so his decision (and I emphasize the word his as it was Cousins who decided to sign with the Falcons) did put them in a bit of a bind.

But in the bigger picture this might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Had Cousins stayed I think he'd have had the starting job and McCarthy would have sat the whole year barring something unforeseen. But with Cousins leaving, the door is wide open for McCarthy, which means if McCarthy is ready to walk through it, we could be witnessing the start of a new era for the Vikings.

[CharVike]

Their hand wasn't forced they created it. The Bears created their hand that gave them the first pick in the draft. KOC has said JJM becoming Minnesota's starter is open-ended. Hello KOC you can't wait 2 or 3 years because you will be gone. KAM stated mold and play. He don't even know what that means. Just look at Ingram's first year. It was a joke. The guy looked like he never pass blocked in his life. I do think KOC wanted Cousins back. He didn't get 100 million because he sucks like Darnold. IMO the K-Team aren't on the same page. It took Speilman and Zim more than a couple years to end in this spot. If JJM can't beat out Darnold then.........

I think you're being a little hard on KOC and KAM. By all accounts they wanted Cousins back and were counting on getting him back, so his decision (and I emphasize the word his as it was Cousins who decided to sign with the Falcons) did put them in a bit of a bind.

But in the bigger picture this might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Had Cousins stayed I think he'd have had the starting job and McCarthy would have sat the whole year barring something unforeseen. But with Cousins leaving, the door is wide open for McCarthy, which means if McCarthy is ready to walk through it, we could be witnessing the start of a new era for the Vikings.

I'm being hard because we are in year 3 with the K-Team and we are falling behind our division competitors at a fast rate. I'm not going to go through the list of things that I don't agree with because it would be a long response. We'll see how this shakes out. I like the JJM pick and the Turner pick. This 1st game against the Giants will tell me many things about how I think our future will go. That all starts with Jones and Lawerance. They can't dominate again. Matter of fact you couldn't ask for a better match up to show the rebuild progress thus far. That has nothing to do with a W or L either. It will show our pass defense capabilities and our ability to block a very effective IDL player.

[CharVike]

Veteran quarterback Sam Darnold rebounded nicely at Minnesota Vikings Training Camp practice on Friday having his best session of camp. This is from PurpleFTW who is the ultimate homer but does a good job with the content he provides. I give him credit for that.

[allday1991]

Veteran quarterback Sam Darnold rebounded nicely at Minnesota Vikings Training Camp practice on Friday having his best session of camp. This is from PurpleFTW who is the ultimate homer but does a good job with the content he provides. I give him credit for that.

I half enjoy his content on occasion, my gripe to pick with that community atm is the total bias on the QB competition. Watched the video posted before this one and there was post after post about how Darnold should be the starter as he’s proved more. JJM has literally had two plays with the starting offensive and one was an end around. JJM was destroying the 1st team defence in the red zone with 2nd stringers, why wouldn’t he be able to consistently do it with the starters? Why wouldn’t you want your 1st round pick to have an actual shot at starting? Why wouldn’t you want them to have equal touches with the first team offensive during camp? Half the time he’s going on how Darnold will have a come back year lead us to the playoffs, to which we franchise tag Darnold to trade away for a 1 or a 2nd, then we start JJM his second year and he’s the next big thing. That’s my rant


On a serious note, this is a meaningless pat on the back. Sam Darnold had a good day in camp with Jefferson and Addison against the Vikings 1st team defence. This is to be expected with the talent we have on offence and the way defences play in camp. I’m a bit more shocked when a rookie qb with 2nd stringer talent completely shreds the 1st string defence. What’s that result in? Two snaps with the starting offence. I like what KAM and KOC do 80% of the time but the other 20% just leaves me scratching my head.

[VikingsVictorious]

Veteran quarterback Sam Darnold rebounded nicely at Minnesota Vikings Training Camp practice on Friday having his best session of camp. This is from PurpleFTW who is the ultimate homer but does a good job with the content he provides. I give him credit for that.

Good for Sam. I want him to do well. I just believe the Vikings current and future is McCarthy.

[CharVike]

Veteran quarterback Sam Darnold rebounded nicely at Minnesota Vikings Training Camp practice on Friday having his best session of camp. This is from PurpleFTW who is the ultimate homer but does a good job with the content he provides. I give him credit for that.

Good for Sam. I want him to do well. I just believe the Vikings current and future is McCarthy.

I don't disagree with you. This is typical Darnold so so play then boom a great show. That will never work. Game 1 for us is the perfect opponent to give a rookie his first start. That team is flawed at every level. It won't get any easier than that so use it to our advantage.

[CharVike]

Veteran quarterback Sam Darnold rebounded nicely at Minnesota Vikings Training Camp practice on Friday having his best session of camp. This is from PurpleFTW who is the ultimate homer but does a good job with the content he provides. I give him credit for that.

I half enjoy his content on occasion, my gripe to pick with that community atm is the total bias on the QB competition. Watched the video posted before this one and there was post after post about how Darnold should be the starter as he’s proved more. JJM has literally had two plays with the starting offensive and one was an end around. JJM was destroying the 1st team defence in the red zone with 2nd stringers, why wouldn’t he be able to consistently do it with the starters? Why wouldn’t you want your 1st round pick to have an actual shot at starting? Why wouldn’t you want them to have equal touches with the first team offensive during camp? Half the time he’s going on how Darnold will have a come back year lead us to the playoffs, to which we franchise tag Darnold to trade away for a 1 or a 2nd, then we start JJM his second year and he’s the next big thing. That’s my rant


On a serious note, this is a meaningless pat on the back. Sam Darnold had a good day in camp with Jefferson and Addison against the Vikings 1st team defence. This is to be expected with the talent we have on offence and the way defences play in camp. I’m a bit more shocked when a rookie qb with 2nd stringer talent completely shreds the 1st string defence. What’s that result in? Two snaps with the starting offence. I like what KAM and KOC do 80% of the time but the other 20% just leaves me scratching my head.

It is meaningless and he's a homer. You give KAM and KOC much more credit than I ever will unless they provide a trophy within the next 2 seasons. If not then see ya. I question the entire give Darnold all these 1st team rep snaps just like you. JJM isn't some late rounder. He's a high 1st round pick and deserves a chance with the 1st team. But I have no idea how they run the competition. As KOC said the time frame for JJM to be the starter is open-ended. Why even say that. Open-ended should never be part of a rebuild/development. Here's a possible history repeats itself. Like Chilly to save their jobs an ex packer great comes from the jets to us next year.

[makila]

Andy's content is so hard to take serious imho. He is just too much of a homer, as Char said. Kudos to the guy for pumping out content that is consistent and has good production quality though. I listen when I need the sunshine. Haha.

True qb competition means that you control keeping variables the same as much as possible. Such as line, receivers, opposition, etc. So yeah if it's truly a competition both should be getting reps split on first team offense, and against first team defense.

Imho as long as Darnold is getting the majority of the #1 reps it isn't a true competition.

[CharVike]

In the end it's not a competition. They are trying to coach Darnold up and turn him into a solid starter by week 1. KOC who gets the blame for the Haskins bust don't won't another on his resume. Darnold is a hedge your bet player. He was named the starter immediately. Once he has a few bad outings in a row they will yank him. I just hope KOC doesn't sit there like he did with Dobbs. You can't take it to the point when scoring becomes impossible for a few games. Once he turns into Mullens and makes too many mistakes for a chance to win then he needs to sit and let JJM takover. That's probably the best for JJM also.

[allday1991]

In the end it's not a competition. They are trying to coach Darnold up and turn him into a solid starter by week 1. KOC who gets the blame for the Haskins bust don't won't another on his resume. Darnold is a hedge your bet player. He was named the starter immediately. Once he has a few bad outings in a row they will yank him. I just hope KOC doesn't sit there like he did with Dobbs. You can't take it to the point when scoring becomes impossible for a few games. Once he turns into Mullens and makes too many mistakes for a chance to win then he needs to sit and let JJM takover. That's probably the best for JJM also.

Pretty much what I’ve taken from it. JJM has looked great in camp and it hasn’t resulted in any type of split in first team touches, like what did the guy have to do to get a chance? KOC lying through his teeth if he says QB is an open competition.

[VikingsVictorious]

In the end it's not a competition. They are trying to coach Darnold up and turn him into a solid starter by week 1. KOC who gets the blame for the Haskins bust don't won't another on his resume. Darnold is a hedge your bet player. He was named the starter immediately. Once he has a few bad outings in a row they will yank him. I just hope KOC doesn't sit there like he did with Dobbs. You can't take it to the point when scoring becomes impossible for a few games. Once he turns into Mullens and makes too many mistakes for a chance to win then he needs to sit and let JJM takover. That's probably the best for JJM also.

Pretty much what I’ve taken from it. JJM has looked great in camp and it hasn’t resulted in any type of split in first team touches, like what did the guy have to do to get a chance? KOC lying through his teeth if he says QB is an open competition.

His words are "we want a competitive situation."