The Vikings’ 2024 season is already beginning to really feel very like 2023.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy (knee) will endure surgical procedure and is predicted to overlook the beginning of the common season.
Along with his harm, “Sam Darnold is now squarely in line [to] be the Vikings opening-day beginning quarterback on the Giants,” Schefter wrote on social media.
The NFL insider additionally shared {that a} timeline for McCarthy’s return will probably be decided following his process.
Final season, the Vikings rotated by means of a number of unappealing choices following Kirk Cousins’ season-ending Achilles harm and completed 7-10. They’re on observe to start out the 2024 season on the identical word.
Joshua Dobbs, Nick Mullens and 2023 rookie Jaren Corridor mixed to star 9 video games final yr and threw 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Minnesota remained aggressive after Cousins’ harm, however it noticed firsthand how essential a starting-caliber quarterback is.
Darnold, the No. 3 general decide of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Jets, has 56 profession begins over six seasons. He is a replacement-level choice at finest, with a profession 59.7 completion proportion, 63 touchdowns and 56 interceptions.
In Minnesota’s preseason opener in opposition to the Raiders, Darnold began and went 4-of-8 for 59 yards. He led the Vikings on a 12-play, 66-yard drive that ended with a turnover on downs on an incomplete go on the Raiders 4-yard line.
McCarthy fared higher, ending his first NFL motion 11-of-17 for 188 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
He appeared ready to supplant Darnold atop the Vikings quarterback depth chart, with head coach Kevin O’Connell praising the 2023 NCAA champion on Monday’s “The Pat McAfee Present.”
“I assumed J.J. performed rather well,” O’Connell stated earlier than praising his quarterback’s mentality in overcoming an early interception to guide two landing drives.
For his half, McCarthy is taking his setback in stride. He shared an upbeat message to social media, writing that he’d “be again very quickly.”
Whereas the Vikings should not rush their 2024 first-round decide again from harm, they might use him sooner slightly than later. Minnesota’s schedule instantly following its Week 1 sport on the Giants is brutal, with video games in opposition to the 49ers, Texans, Packers, Jets and Lions from Weeks 2-7.
We have seen sufficient of Darnold by means of the years to know that whereas he is likely to be good for a begin or two, he should not be handed the keys to a franchise.
The longer McCarthy is sidelined, the extra the upcoming season will really feel just like the final.
