After the Vikings selected Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, fans started pondering if he would start in ’24. But Minnesota also signed veteran Sam Darnold this offseason, and the Vikings aren’t in any hurry to rush McCarthy to the starting position. This would realistically mean Darnold enters Week 1 as the starter, with McCarthy standing on the sideline, ready for his opportunity as the backup.
Well, maybe not.
According to the voice of the Vikings and play-by-play announcer Paul Allen, via KFan1003, he is looking for Minnesota to keep three quarterbacks on its roster this season. The caveat is that he doesn’t think McCarthy will enter the season as the number two quarterback.
“I would make it prohibitively favored in that it would be Sam Darnold starting, Nick Mullens as the backup, and then J.J. McCarthy as the 3rd QB,” said Allen. “But this is an opportunity for McCarthy. Punchers chance would be too strong, but long-ish shot fashion to win the two job in training camp. And I don’t know if it will happen, but I would make 3 QBs on the active roster prohibitively favored.”
Nick Mullens was one of the quarterbackss to start last season when Kirk Cousins went down. Mullens moved the offense and put up some nice yardage stats, but turnovers reared their ugly head when Mullens was behind center. It’s something that would have to be improved if he ended up getting the second shot in Darnold’s place.