Despite becoming CFP national champion few months ago, JJ McCarthy reportedly has less than 10% chance of becoming Vikings’ starting QB

O'Connell reportedly wants to test McCarthy in every way possible before assigning him the starting QB role.

Despite becoming CFP national champion few months ago, JJ McCarthy reportedly has less than 10% chance of becoming Vikings’ starting QB

(L) Sam Darnold and (R) JJ McCarthy (Image via IMAGO)

NFL Network’s Albert Breer isn’t ready to give JJ McCarthy the green light for the Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback role just yet. Even though McCarthy had a great spring training session, Breer believes Sam Darnold is still ahead of him in the pecking order.

These aren’t exactly Breer’s thoughts, as he doesn’t have any say in whom Kevin O’Connell chooses as his QB1. Instead, Breer pointed out that O’Connell had devised a training regime (ninja warrior type) for McCarthy. If the 21-year-old passes all the stages, the Vikings may consider him over Darnold. However, in reality, McCarthy only has a 10% chance of being the starter.

[Kevin O’Connell has created a]… step-by-step development plan for McCarthy that’ll require the quarterback to hit certain milestones before the team presses him into real action.
Albert Breer wrote for SI.com

Breer pointed out that Sam Darnold remains O’Connell’s first choice for now. The former first-round pick was part of Kyle Shanahan’s San Francisco 49ers roster last season. Although he only started one game, Darnold showed he has the touch.

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The Vikings’ head coach revealed the process of taking the USC graduate began during the pre-draft in a recent interview on the Rich Eisen Show.

When we brought him in here, how confident and excited I am to coach a guy like Sam loved him coming out of the draft and just acknowledging the quarterback journey that he's been on.
Kevin O’Connell told Rich Eisen

However, the one fact that O’Connell highlighted about the former New York Jets quarterback was his age (27). Even though he was brought in as a bridge quarterback, the Vikings can still make a franchise quarterback out of Darnold.

Sam Darnold will be QB 1 heading into training camp

JJ McCarthy fans need to wait a bit longer for the rookie to become the starter for the Vikings. As of now, they are sticking with Darnold. Following the three-day mandatory minicamp, O’Connell revealed that there was a clear winner for the QB 1 spot for the training camp in July.

Despite becoming CFP national champion few months ago, JJ McCarthy reportedly has less than 10% chance of becoming Vikings' starting QB
Sam Darnold (Image via IMAGO)
We haven’t had to put out a depth chart or anything like that. But, yeah, I would say Sam would be the guy I would look to based upon the spring he’s had.
Kevin O’Connell said on June 12

Darnold is currently on a one-year $10 million contract with the Vikings. They also have veteran Nick Mullens and second-year quarterback Jaren Hall waiting for any opportunity. Whether McCarthy bags the starting QB role or not, he will more than likely be ahead of the two for the backup job.

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