Tag: J.J. McCarthy

Vikings get defensive line help in ESPN’s latest 2025 NFL mock draft

The Minnesota Vikings get help along the defensive line in the latest 2025 NFL mock draft from ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid.

The Minnesota Vikings are still riding high as one of only two unbeaten teams left in the NFL. They’re sitting atop the toughest division in the NFL right now, the NFC North, and have their sights set on doing some big things this season. But that doesn’t mean we can’t start looking ahead towards the future of this team. That future starts with the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Vikings laid a good foundation with the 2024 NFL Draft, especially in the first round, grabbing who they believe to be the future of their franchise with quarterback J.J. McCarthy. They also make an effort to shore up their pass rush by taking edge rusher Dallas Turner with their second first-round pick. Turner has struggled some in his rookie campaign, but he still has a bright future ahead of him in defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ scheme.

While the Vikings have several high-quality pieces on both sides of the ball, several areas can be improved. According to ESPN’s NFL Draft analyst Jordan Reid, the Vikings’ biggest areas of need heading into the 2025 NFL Draft are along the offensive line—particularly at guard, the defensive tackle spot, and cornerback.

So, where should the Vikings look next April?

Reid has the Vikings getting some defensive line help with the last pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, taking Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon. Here’s Reid’s breakdown of the selection:

The Michigan State transfer has quickly become arguably Oregon’s best defensive player. With a quick first step, Harmon has been able to consistently penetrate the first level, picking up three sacks this season. His strong hands help him stack and shed blocks in the middle as a run defender, but he must do a better job of finishing plays. The Vikings’ defense has been excellent this season, but it probably still needs long-term depth at defensive tackle. Harmon’s explosion would work well in Brian Flores’ attacking unit.

It’s a little surprising to see Reid projecting the Viking to land help on the defensive side when guard has been such a glaring need for the team. However, that situation may improve with the return of Dalton Risner, and the Vikings could certainly use the depth at the position. Harrison Phillips isn’t going to play forever, and Minnesota would do well to think about the next man up despite his recent extension.

He’ll have some mighty big shoes to fill.

Bill Belichick sees only one way for Sam Darnold to keep the starting job

Luckily or not , Sam Darnold has taken that luck and parlayed it into now being involved in the discussion of the team’s future. 

In April, the Vikings drafted J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was pegged as the franchise’s future and looked like it after the team’s first preseason game in August. Sadly, in that same game, McCarthy would suffer a complete tear of his meniscus, and it thrusted Sam Darnold firmly into the starting role.

Luckily or not for the Vikings, Sam Darnold has taken that luck and parlayed it into now being involved in the discussion of the team’s future.

Bill Belichick recognizes the situation that Darnold’s success is bringing, but he acknowledges that there is only one way for the former USC Trojan to keep the job. As Belichick explains, winning a Super Bowl for the Vikings would make things interesting for the franchise in more ways than one.

“I think it would definitely change things if that were to happen. That’s what happened with Brady, that’s what happened with Kurt Warner and Trent Green. When your QB takes you to the Super Bowl championship, what else do you want them to do? That’s a pretty big commitment to make.”

While Vikings fans and the team want a Super Bowl, can they really de-commit from McCarthy despite that? It continues to be an exciting situation in Minneapolis.

Is Sam Darnold’s hot start making Vikings rethink their plan at quarterback?

Sam Darnold has been on a roll to start the 2024 season. Is it enough to make the Minnesota Vikings re-think their long-term plans at QB?

When the Minnesota Vikings decided to let former quarterback Kirk Cousins walk in the offseason and sign with the Atlanta Falcons in free agency, many questioned what the Vikings were going to do at the position going forward. When the Vikings signed journeyman quarterback Sam Darnold, a famous NFL Draft bust, those questions turned to question the sanity of the Vikings’ front office.

No one expected Darnold to be anything more than a bridge quarterback to whomever the Vikings would draft in the 2024 NFL Draft – if he’d even be able to beat that player out in camp at all. That player wound up being former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and from the outset, the Vikings had a plan with McCarthy. He would be the backup quarterback and learn from Darnold, but he would likely eventually take over. It was just a matter of when.

Then, a preseason knee injury altered the plan, as McCarthy would be declared out for the season. The Vikings were looking at Darnold as their starting quarterback for the foreseeable future, and most saw that as a recipe for disaster. But, as the 2024 season has gotten underway, the results have been anything but a disaster for Darnold and the Vikings.

So much so that Darnold is playing like arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, which is making some question whether the Vikings should further change their plans at quarterback and sign Darnold long-term.

With his performance on Sunday in a victory over the Green Bay Packers, Darnold set a number of team or NFL records. The 28-0 lead Darnold led the Vikings to became the largest lead over the Packers the Vikings have had in team history.

Darnold threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns on the day and finished the game with a quarterback rating of 123.4. With those numbers, Darnold became the first quarterback in team history to post a quarterback rating over 100 in four straight games and tied an NFL record dating back to 1970.

With his three touchdowns on the day, Darnold moved to 11 touchdowns on the season, making him just the second quarterback in NFL history to go 4-0 and throw 10 or more touchdowns in his first four starts with a team – the other being Patrick Mahomes.

Obviously, there is a ton of season left to be played and a lot of time for Sam Darnold’s Cinderella season to come crashing down around him. But for right now, Darnold is playing the best football of his career, and if he keeps it up throughout the season, he may have Vikings’ brass making some difficult decisions at the end of the year.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson ‘not overly concerned’ about quad injury

Fast forward to Week 2, they have another major injury scare that isn’t as bad of news as McCarthy’s.

The Minnesota Vikings have been bit the injury bug quite a lot to start the season. None have been major since the season started, of course the preseason saw the team lose J.J. McCarthy for the year with a torn meniscus.

Fast forward to Week 2, and they have another major injury scare that isn’t as bad of news as McCarthy’s.

Late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win, All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson was hit in the knee and went down immediately. Most people were immediately panicked, but it seems that may have been an exaggerated reaction.

Speaking to the media after the win, Justin Jefferson told them that he was “not overly concerned. It’s just a little thigh bruise, contusion, whatever you want to call it. Something that happens.”

The team has yet to respond to his medical diagnosis officially. The injury report will be published on Wednesday, so we will have to wait until then for any official designation.

Colin Cowherd suggests Bo Nix is best rookie QB from 2024 class

“Hot take: Bo Nix is the best quarterback this year out of this crop,” Colin Cowherd said.

When Colin Cowherd picks a side, he picks a side. And he is standing firmly on the Bo Nix hill.

Cowherd is openly all in on the Denver Broncos‘ rookie quarterback, his pairing with head coach Sean Payton, and his wide-open offense. Nix, the 12th pick in the 2024 NFL draft, became the QB who would pick up the pieces of the Russell Wilson debacle that may have set the Broncos back. 

But according to Cowherd on his “Colin Cowherd Podcast” via The Volume, the Nix draft pick will help the Broncos rebound from the last two years.

“Hot take, Bo Nix is the best quarterback this year out of this crop,” Cowherd said on a recent episode of his podcast.

That’s right, Cowherd thinks Nix could be better than Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy and Michael Penix.

John Middlekauf, a frequent guest on the show, also noted how Payton spotted the talent of Patrick Mahomes early and was keen on drafting him before the Kansas City Chiefs drafted him in 2017. That said, Payton may know he has a diamond in the rough. Cowherd believes it, too.

Here’s more from Cowherd on Nix from his TV show:

Here’s to hoping Nix is spot-on with his Nix assessment.

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Sean Payton ‘had a conviction’ about Bo Nix leading up to the draft

The Broncos scouted all of the QBs in the 2024 NFL draft and “we just had a conviction” about Bo Nix, coach Sean Payton said.

Leading up to the 2024 NFL draft, Caleb Williams was the obvious candidate to go first overall and many pundits expected Jayden Daniels to go second overall.

There was also Drake Maye, then a group of quarterbacks including J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix and Michael Penix. The Denver Broncos‘ staff scouted all of the top QBs in this year’s class, and one stood out.

“We went through that process with all of these guys, and we had a strong conviction [about Nix],” Broncos coach Sean Payton said Wednesday. “Then it’s tuning out the white noise relative to what you’re seeing. [In] 2017, we spent hours on these players. We had a certain grade on [Alvin] Kamara. I felt it wasn’t high enough, I remember just standing up on a chair in the draft room and saying, ‘We have this guy graded.’ There’s kind of this NFL train during the draft that takes place. You don’t know really who’s driving it, and you have to pay attention to it, but you don’t ever want to get on.

“All of those guys during the process did well, whether it was Drake, or J.J., Penix. You spent a lot of time with all of them, and we just had a conviction [about Nix]. His pro-day was on a Friday, and then he had a Saturday workout with us with meetings. We just kept looking at the tape and doing our homework on it.” 

Nix was not considered a top-three QB in this year’s class by pundits, but it certainly seems that the Broncos had him ranked higher than most teams. Payton did not let the opinions of analysts and other clubs change his conviction about Nix.

“I think that’s sometimes one of the challenges during the draft, is it’s harder today to tune out for the scouts and the coaches,” Payton said. “Back in the ’70s or the ’80s, you didn’t — now there is so much information out there that even as an evaluator in the building — the scouts, the GM or a head coach — that you can sometimes hear too much, and you still really have to get back to what are the things you’re looking for? That can vary by team, and that’s good. There’s nothing wrong with that, but that was kind of the process.”

In the end, Payton picked Nix, and the quarterback went on to impress this summer before being named the starter ahead of the 2024 season. Nix ended up being the sixth QB taken in April’s draft, but Payton has implied he was the target all along. We’ll see how his career stacks up against the five other first-round QBs in the coming years.

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Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell gives injury update on CB Shaq Griffin

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell provided the media with an injury update on cornerback Shaq Griffin after Thursday’s practice.

A day after receiving a slew of bad news on the injury front, the Minnesota Vikings followed it up with a day of much-needed good news. Yesterday, both Jordan Addison and Blake Cashman were injured in practices with the Cleveland Browns, and Minnesota learned that rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy was out for the season after knee surgery.

Thursday, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was able to give the media and Vikings fans some good news, instead. Along with the news that Addison had avoided major injury and that Cashman would be back soon after getting surgery on his finger, O’Connell also provided an update on injured cornerback Shaq Griffin.

Griffin suffered a leg injury three weeks ago during practice and was later determined to have a “soft tissue” injury. That injury occurred just a day after fellow cornerback Mekhi Blackmon was lost for the season with a torn ACL, so getting good news on this front is desperately needed. Minnesota was already thin at the position. They could hardly stand to be without one of their starters to begin the season.

That won’t be the case, as O’Connell updated his injury status, saying Griffin will be ready for the start of the season.

Former Panthers QB Matt Corral getting another chance at NFL

Former Panthers draft pick Matt Corral is back in the NFL.

We love a good underdog story.

As announced on Friday, the Minnesota Vikings have signed former Carolina Panthers quarterback Matt Corral. The 25-year-old now returns to the NFL after a brief stint for the United Football League’s Birmingham Stallions this past spring.

The Ole Miss standout was selected by the Panthers in the third round of the 2022 NFL draft. Carolina, in a deal with the New England Patriots, traded up into the draft’s 94th overall spot to corral Corral under former head coach Matt Rhule.

Unfortunately, he (like Rhule) did not stick around long in Charlotte. Corral sustained a Lisfranc fracture during the preseason of his rookie campaign and would eventually be waived by the Panthers before the start of the 2023 season.

Corral would then be claimed, surely enough, by the Patriots—who would cut ties with him just a few weeks later.

Birmingham came calling in February 2024, right ahead of the UFL’s inaugural season. Corral helped push the Stallions to the league’s title game with an impressive relief appearance in the conference championship round.

With first-round pick J.J. McCarthy having been placed on the season-ending injured reserve due to a knee injury, Corral rejoins another former Panthers passer in Sam Darnold to help patch up Minnesota’s quarterback room.

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Vikings place J.J. McCarthy on IR, sign former third-round pick

The Minnesota Vikings placed J.J. McCarthy on the Injured Reserve list and signed a former third-round pick.

The Minnesota Vikings officially placed rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy on the Injured Reserve, ending his season after one preseason game. The former 10th overall pick will get his next shot in 2025 after rehabbing a torn meniscus in his knee.

With McCarthy’s injury, the Vikings also announced they signed former third-round pick Matt Corral. The Carolina Panthers drafted Corral in the 2022 NFL Draft, but he never saw any NFL action. He spent time with the New England Patriots in 2023.

Most recently, Corral played for the UFL’s 2024 Champion Birmingham Stallions, going 3-0 in his starts and completing 36 of 62 passes for 494 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

With McCarthy being injured, Sam Darnold is the unquestioned starter entering Week 1 against the New York Giants. Nick Mullens figures to back him up, with both Jaren Hall and Matt Corral vying for a roster spot.

Justin Jefferson is going to earn every dollar of his extension in 2024

Justin Jefferson heads into the season being the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history, and he is about to earn every dollar of it.

Justin Jefferson has shown that he can produce no matter who throws him the ball. Last year he did it with a rotation of Joshua Dobbs, Jaren Hall and Nick Mullens. Despite missing time with a hamstring injury, he still eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards.

In 2024, though, as the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history, he will have to do more right away.

The locker room is reeling from the news that first-round pick J.J. McCarthy will be out for the entire season. That means Sam Darnold is the guy throwing to Jefferson. The highest receiving total for someone who has had Darnold as his quarterback for a season is DJ Moore, who had 1,157 receiving yards when he was in Carolina in 2021. Next closest? Jamison Crowder with 833 yards in 2020.

Jefferson is far and away the most talented receiver that Darnold has played with, but he still needs to get the ball to him. In the wake of McCarthy’s injury, the pressure on Darnold has been ratcheted up, but he isn’t being paid what Jefferson is. Fairly or unfairly, more pressure will be on Jefferson as the Vikings look to salvage the season.