Vikings hit with J.J. McCarthy ‘red flag’ ahead of training camp

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but J.J. McCarthy is expected to take his first real NFL snaps during the 2025 regular season.

That isn’t exactly breaking news, but it’s the main reason many in the NFL world are sleeping on the Minnesota Vikings this year.

From hot takes on arm strength, to concerns over a rookie season lost to a meniscus injury, McCarthy appears to have far more doubters than expected entering his anticipated first season as Minnesota’s sure-fire starting quarterback.

Vikings' leadership, however, continues to show a ton of faith in their 22-year-old QB, opting against signing some decent veteran options in free agency this year like Aaron Rodgers, Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones. Instead? Minnesota punted its backup QB spot all the way until Day 3 of the draft, when they pulled off a modest trade for Sam Howell, a player who otherwise would have been cut by the Seattle Seahawks.

Minnesota’s lack of a proven NFL quarterback, starting with McCarthy, is a red flag entering training camp, per CBS Sports analyst Cody Benjamin:

“It's rare you find a team so equipped for a deep playoff run yet without so much as a morsel of certainty under center,” he wrote. “J.J. McCarthy may have the full support of a winning staff led by Kevin O'Connell, whose chief strength besides perpetual "Minnesota Nice" optimism is maximizing his quarterbacks, but he's still a 22-year-old with zero real NFL snaps under his belt. Facing not only a difficult schedule but inflated expectations from fans who watched Sam Darnold win 14 games a year ago, he's at least got the weapons and staff to aid his debut.”

While the reverse-hype around McCarthy has gotten a bit out of hand, given we’re yet to see how he actually looks in a real football setting this offseason, it’s fair game to question the team’s approach to the QB room as a whole.

Adding a solid, veteran backup for McCarthy, considering last year’s knee injury, was expected to be top of mind for the organization. Joe Flacco? Cooper Rush? Gardner Minshew? There were plenty of solid veteran options out there this offseason that could have pushed McCarthy a bit in camp before settling into the backup role. The Vikings ultimately decided to play the math game with the compensatory pick formula — and literally signed no one, outside of undrafted rookie Max Brosmer.

The negative commentary on McCarthy has definitely gone overboard, but Minnesota’s QB room as a whole? The Vikings will enter training camp with four players that have a combined 31 games of NFL experience.

McCarthy could ball out and silence all his critics, but the team’s decision not to invest in a top-tier backup for their young quarterback could end up being one of the bigger second guesses of this 2025 season.