REPORT: After OTAs, Minnesota Vikings quarterback star has troubling update surface accuracy.
Prior to the start of training camp next month, Sam Darnold has been declared the starting quarterback by Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell. A report regarding J.J. McCarthy, the rookie quarterback, and his performance during mandatory minicamp suggests that McCarthy still has a ways to go before he can surpass Darnold.
QB1 for the Minnesota Vikings is Sam Darnold.
The Vikings will hold a quarterback battle during training camp to choose Darnold’s backup, according to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert:
“I would say Sam would be the guy I would look to based upon the spring he’s had, and really where he’s at in his career and his quarterback journey, and what he’s been able to do coming in and [hitting] the ground running and taking advantage of a competitive situation,” O’Connell stated. “We haven’t had to put out a depth chart or anything like that.”
J.J. McCarthy’s accuracy is seriously flawed.
Despite having a difficult start to the week, McCarthy persevered through Day 3. Lewis said that Thursday was McCarthy’s finest day at minicamp. McCarthy did, however, display a range of emotions as he made passes that the media would want not to count:
But McCarthy looked a lot better on Thursday. To tight end Robert Tonyan, he lasered one across the middle. On the far right sideline, he feathered a pass to receiver Trent Sherfield. Tracking passes currently seems pointless because there are so many factors that go into these throws, and a simple stat line just serves to distort the story. However, Thursday was by far the rookie’s most productive day.
McCarthy, according to Seifert, focused more on his efforts to understand the NFL than on outperforming Darnold to get the starting position. Seifert observes once more that McCarthy struggles with precision during practice:
In addition to several hard throws that bounced in front of receivers or flew over their heads, keen watchers have also noted some that were thrown last week to receiver Trent Sherfield on the penultimate day of mandatory minicamp.
McCarthy is working on getting over his poor passes.
The Vikings have committed to making McCarthy their long-term starter by moving up to select him with the No. 10 pick. McCarthy, though, doesn’t seem prepared to take up that role at the beginning of the season—possibly not for the whole 2024 campaign. McCarthy’s inability to control the pre-snap offense is less troubling than his accuracy problems.
After the spring, McCarthy seems like a project quarterback. The National Championship-winning quarterback may be in a stronger position to contend for a starting spot the following season with more repetitions and a season under his belt.
