As a lifelong Catholic and devout Minnesota Vikings follower, it’s interesting to see the world suddenly become so invested in this thing I love. That is, unless they’re doing something particularly scandalous or embarrassing.
I’m speaking, of course, about the Minnesota Vikings, with a quarterback conundrum that’s apparently as riddled with all the drama and secrecy of the Papal Conclave.
Minnesota has spent its entire offseason fending off the national rumor mill surrounding its quarterback situation. We’ve got reputable national reporters at major networks spinning stories about Sam Darnold, Aaron Rodgers, Daniel Jones, or Kirk Cousins coming to Minnesota to keep former first-round pick J.J. McCarthy sitting on ice. The Vikings are finally a subject worth paying attention to by national talking heads, just so long as they all ignore the obvious story.
J.J. McCarthy will be the team’s starting quarterback.
For as much scorn as I’d love to throw the chattering class’s way, I’ll admit that the coaching staff has stopped short of squashing the discussion outright. They’ve come as close to that line as possible without making an outright decision, but there is still wiggle room for those looking to generate controversy. Technically, nothing is stopping Kevin O’Connell from lighting the stove and having purple haze emit from the chimney at TCO Performance Center, declaring to Minnesotans at large, “Habemus Quarterback!”
But despite that feeling like a foregone conclusion, we still see black smoke.
So, in case you’re feeling any anxiety over McCarthy’s status, how confident should we be that the Michigan kid is right on schedule?
Firstly, the Vikings made no serious attempts at providing legitimate competition. This team is still sitting on a healthy chunk of cap space that was burning a hole in their pocket for this season, the perfect size for a modest one-year deal for a Daniel Jones or an Aaron Rodgers.
Even taking a closer look at the Sam Darnold contract in Seattle, it essentially boils down to a one-year deal with some extra fluff on the backend. Suppose Kevin O’Connell was genuinely concerned that McCarthy wasn’t the solution, or was behind schedule in his recovery. In that case, it’s feasible to bring in any of those legitimate starting options.
Granted, there are some reports that the Vikings floated low-ball offers to each guy. Considering the excess cap, they easily could’ve kept bidding if they really wanted. But they didn’t. At a certain point, bringing in a quarterback who might lose the camp battle to McCarthy no longer became worth it.
The Vikings also constructed their offseason plan with McCarthy in mind. They overhauled the offensive interior, re-signed Aaron Jones, and traded for Jordan Mason at running back. They even spent some of their limited draft capital on another receiver to add to a crowded receiver room.
All that points to a renewed emphasis on running the ball, throwing off play-action, and staying ahead of the chains. In doing so, they’ll put their young quarterback in a position to succeed. Are these concepts good for any quarterback? Certainly. But this complete organizational priority above all else is what you do when investing in your future quarterback, not just getting by with a bridge guy.
There’s also the way this locker room, GM, and head coach have spoken about McCarthy this offseason. The Vikings are a positive, uplifting organization. Still, they’ve been about as optimistic about a player without a regular-season snap and coming over a torn meniscus as I’ve ever seen.
That clip from Kevin O’Connell on The Rich Eisen Show is especially forthright. Despite whatever his philosophical reason is that prevents him from outright naming McCarthy the starter, he does name him as the guy “taking plenty of snaps with Ryan Kelly, who happens to be a 10-year starting offensive center in this league. Take that for what it’s worth.”
O’Connell finally got so tired of his own coach speak that he couldn’t help but be transparent.
McCarthy is the starting quarterback.
It’ll be interesting to see when Minnesota finally lights the stove and sends up the smoke, but their intentions don’t need further dissecting. They may make it official in OTAs, training Camp, or even Week 1. Barring a monumental shakeup, the result will be the same either way.
So my advice is to let yourself be at peace with the situation. Embrace McCarthy’s “Amor Fati” and love fate as it unfolds. Don’t let talking heads pick apart a McCarthy press conference and sow discontent where there isn’t any. Don’t let any future depth-chart ambiguity on Vikings.com give you a heart attack. And, whatever you do, don’t click on any headline connecting Aaron Rodgers and the Vikings; it’ll only reinforce the author’s bad behavior.
McCarthy’s time is not only coming, it’s here now. So you may as well start celebrating it! “Habemus Quarterback,” Vikings fans!
