With the 10th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft last month, the Minnesota Vikings selected former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. The Vikings believe McCarthy will replace Kirk Cousins as their new franchise signal-caller.
In order to ease McCarthy’s entrance into pro football, Minnesota signed former first-round pick Sam Darnold this offseason as well. The idea is to have Darnold serve as a bridge quarterback until McCarthy is ready. Of course, a head coach’s job is tied to performance on the field. If the Vikings struggle early, or there is an injury to Darnold, McCarthy will likely be thrust into action whether he’s ready or not.
Minnesota has been down this road twice in the past 13 years. In 2011, Minnesota took Florida State’s Christian Ponder with the 12th overall pick and also traded for former Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders veteran QB Donovan McNabb to start. That lasted all of six weeks until McNabb was benched, and Ponder started in Week 7 of his rookie season.
Three years later, the Vikings drafted Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater in the first round in 2014 and planned to have him learn from veteran signal-caller Matt Cassel. When Cassel went down with a season-ending injury in Week 3, Bridgewater was the starter for the remainder of the year.There are no guarantees in the NFL, and the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry (as the saying goes). No one is hoping Darnold gets hurt, and fans are praying for a good start to the 2024 season.
Unfortunately, real life gets in the way and we’ll likely see McCarthy start sooner rather than later. Should that happen, here are five games that could define McCarthy in the upcoming 2024 season.
