Tag: J.J. McCarhy

The Athletic has the Vikings’ Week 12 matchup with the Bears as the most intriguing

Going to be cool seeing this two square off.

The NFC North could be one of the best divisions in football in the future as long as young quarterbacks such as Caleb Williams and J.J. McCarthy live up to the hype. Jared Goff just inked an extension, and Jordan Love showed what he could do last season as the Packers’ starting quarterback.

It’s hard not to get a little excited when you think about two-star rookies like Williams and McCarthy squaring off. That’s why Chris Burke with The Athletic has Week 12 circled. He’s projecting McCarthy to be starting for the Vikings by then, and it will be a Williams vs. McCarthy showdown.

“Assuming Williams doesn’t follow the Justin Fields path and McCarthy taps into most of his extremely high upside, the NFC North’s quarterback situation could be as rock solid over the next several years as it gets for a division. McCarthy isn’t a lock to start in Year 1, as Sam Darnold probably will enter camp as Minnesota’s QB1. But there should be ample Williams-McCarthy matchups in the near future, and this could be the second of them in 2024 — these teams also play Week 12, in Chicago.”

The star collegiate quarterbacks never played one another in college. So when the two of them take the field as Bears and Vikings, it will be a big game for multiple reasons.

Second high profile mock draft sends Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy

The latest NFL Mock Draft from ESPN’s Jordan Reid sends the Minnesota Vikings 2 Michigan Wolverines in QB J.J. McCarthy and DT Kris Jenkins.

The quarterback position has been a very popular selection for the Minnesota Vikings. In fact, the position has been mocked to the Vikings 62 times across 236 collected mock drafts through Sunday, March 3rd.

On Tuesday morning, we saw two major industry mock drafts released where the Vikings selected Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy: first from The Athletic’s Dane Brugler and this one from ESPN’s Jordan Reid.

We obviously don’t know if free agent Kirk Cousins will return to Minnesota, but McCarthy fits coach Kevin O’Connell’s scheme so well. Yes, the passing sample size is limited — he only hit 25 or more passing attempts in 12 of 28 career starts — and his combine workout was inconsistent, but his efficiency at Michigan is noteworthy (72.3% completion rate). The infrastructure in Minnesota — with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson catching passes — is set up well for a young signal-caller to grow, too.

It didn’t stop there for Reid, as he has the Vikings double dipping with the Maize and Blue in selecting Michigan DT Kris Jenkins at 42nd overall.

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has leaned on explosiveness in defensive prospects since taking over as Minnesota’s GM. Jenkins has those traits — he posted a 30-inch vertical at 299 pounds — and the Vikings’ defensive line could be headed for some turnover.

This would be a really impressive two-round haul for the Vikings. Getting the quarterback of the future paired with a high-upside defensive tackle is a great start to keeping this team on the right track.

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