Days after the 2024 NFL draft, ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported that the Minnesota Vikings were willing to part with picks No. 11 and 23 in that draft, plus this year’s first-round pick, for the third pick and two mid-round selections. They likely would have used the third pick on Drake Maye.
On draft night last year, a reporter asked if J.J. McCarthy was the quarterback the Vikings had targeted all along.
“That question’s tough,” Kwesi Adofo-Mensah admitted. “What I can tell you is he was somebody whose skill set we were really excited about, we know we can build around and win with. He’s just scratching [the surface].”
The Vikings likely don’t regret taking McCarthy 10th overall two years ago, even though he’s been inconsistent this season. Still, Maye’s performance this year may have some wondering why Minnesota didn’t tank for him in 2023.
After taking McCarthy two years ago, Adofo-Mensah shared that McCarthy asked him if there were any reason he wouldn’t draft him. Minnesota’s general manager said he felt McCarthy was as talented as any player in the draft.
“You’re just a bit of an unknown because you played in an offense that’s pretty run-heavy [at Michigan] and different things like that, so there’s some guesswork,” Adofo-Mensah said he told McCarthy. “But from what we’ve seen, we think you can do it.”
The irony that McCarthy threw 42 passes and the Vikings only ran it 18 times on Sunday wasn’t lost on anyone. Nor was it that the 22-year-old first-year signal-caller has been inconsistent this season. He’s the youngest starter in the league.
McCarthy mounted a fourth-quarter comeback against the Chicago Bears in Week 1, but followed it up with a dud against the Atlanta Falcons a week later. Still, he inspired confidence upon returning from injury, leading the Vikings to a victory in Detroit.
However, his performance in Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens felt a lot like the Atlanta game. McCarthy was inaccurate again, finishing 20 of 42, and struggled with procedural issues before the snap. The Vikings had eight false start penalties at home against Baltimore.
“I take full responsibility for pre-snap, procedural penalties,” he said after the game.
McCarthy’s play is typical for a 22-year-old first-year starter. The Vikings may eventually be right about McCarthy; he may become a franchise quarterback. Even if McCarthy emulates Kirk Cousins as a high-end system quarterback — only with more mobility and a willingness to throw downfield — Minnesota would take it.
However, the Vikings need McCarthy to be ready to win now.
“I don’t think we ever go into a game saying, ‘Hey, this is about J.J.’s development in this game,’” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said on Tuesday. “We’re going into the game to win the football game and to set up a plan in a way that helps him as much as possible, like we would with any quarterback.”
The Sam Darnold specter lingers over this season. Kevin O’Connell exorcized his demons, and the former third-overall pick had 35 touchdowns and 4,319 yards last year. At age 28, Darnold is in his prime, and he leads the league with a 77.6 QBR. The Seattle Seahawks have hovered around .500 the past three seasons and are off to a 7-2 start with Darnold under center.
Still, it seems unlikely that the Vikings would have ever committed to Darnold. Adofo-Mensah likely wants to build a team around a rookie contract, and Darnold’s franchise tag would have cost $40 million. Seattle signed him to a three-year, $100 million contract in the offseason.
However, what if Darnold had bridged to Maye?
Here’s where we enter harebrained alternate-universe territory. I’m going so deep the TVA might prune me. Then again, they’re a little ornery because they just received their first paycheck in over a month.
Minnesota would have had to tank in 2023 to get Maye. There was plenty of reason to, given they started 0-3, and only four teams had started 0-3 and reached the playoffs since 1990. Instead, they added Cam Akers and Dalton Risner and continued a playoff push.
The Vikings still probably tank if they lose the San Francisco 49ers game in Week 7. Justin Jefferson suffered a hamstring injury in Week 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs, and their only wins were over the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears.
Kirk Cousins sustained an Achilles injury in Week 8 against the Green Bay Packers, further solidifying the case for tanking. That would mean no Dobbs mania, but it also would have given them their best shot at landing Maye.
Maye threw for 2,276 yards, with 15 touchdowns and 10 picks, and made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. Meanwhile, McCarthy tore his meniscus in the preseason and missed the entire year. We’ll never know if McCarthy would have started when Darnold faltered in the middle of last season, or how Maye would have played this season if it were his first year under center.
Still, he’s already thrown for 2,555 yards, 19 touchdowns, and only five picks on a New England Patriots team that won four games last year. Maye has arguably outplayed Darnold. At 23, he’s also younger and has more upside.
“Darnold, it’s an awesome story, but why shouldn’t Maye at least be tied with Darnold as far as the [MVP] favorite?” Ryen Russillo said on a recent podcast. “Maye is basically doing all of this on his own.”
Drake Maye is in New England, though, and J.J. McCarthy will start against Chicago on Sunday. We’re about to learn if the Vikings can cobble together a winning season with the league’s youngest starter. Meanwhile, the Patriots are 8-2, and Sam Darnold and the 7-2 Seahawks await the Vikings at the end of the month.
