The Minnesota Vikings have made some major changes this offseason with the biggest one being at the quarterback position. They let Kirk Cousins walk in free agency and selected J.J. McCarthy in the first round at 10th overall.
The idea of selecting McCarthy was one that was done with a very thorough and diligent process. The Vikings brass made visits to each of the top quarterbacks not named Caleb Williams on campus to get a feel for how they are in their comfort zone and get to know the person and player better. McCarthy passed his visit with flying colors and it had head coach Kevin O'Connell feeling that they could build around him.
Kevin O'Connell provides update on J.J. McCarthy
Throughout the offseason, the Vikings have taken things slow with McCarthy. They haven't rushed him or put him in a position to fail, especially with Sam Darnold in the fold.
O'Connell made an appearance Monday on the Rich Eisen Show and talked about McCarthy's progress.
"Yeah, he's, he's had a great spring. He's off to a really good start, you know, transitioning into a new offense. A bunch of new teammates new players, he gets, you know, he gets a ton of work throughout, you know, routes on air and even in seven on seven. You know, where we were going full speed on all that stuff with some of the first group throughout the spring. So JJ has gotten a good acclamation to you know what our offense is really all about. He's starting to show some ownership of it and growing every single day. It'll be a big week for him this week. Getting a few more, getting a few more reps before we set him off into the summer before arriving back here for a big training camp for our whole team and certainly for JJ as he continues his development."
During full team practices, McCarthy has been QB3 behind Darnold and last year's backup quarterback Nick Mullens. Doing so has allowed the Vikings to ease him in and work on fixing all of the mechanical things they want modified before putting him in high-pressure situations.
It also helps that all reports are that Darnold has been performing well during camp. That element is huge for the Vikings in bringing McCarthy along slowly and it's something that O'Connell confirmed during his appearance.
"Sam Darnold's also had a really good spring, getting acclimated to our offense. So where we're at as a team right now, we feel really fortunate to have the talented group around that quarterback position."
When will McCarthy be the starter for the Vikings? It's way too early to know for sure, but it certainly won't be rushed.
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