Could J.J. McCarthy be the Vikings’ Super Bowl savior? Author Seth Wickersham thinks so

Was the Minnesota Vikings' savior born January 20, 2003? If the savior is supposed to deliver a Super Bowl to the Vikings, then J.J. McCarthy has a chance to be that guy — and a renowned author believes McCarthy very well could be the prodigal son.

Seth Wickersham, the author of the new "American Kings: a Biography of the Quarterback" book, believes McCarthy could lead the Vikings to multiple Super Bowl victories in the coming years. He said as much during an interview Thursday on The Rich Eisen Show, though context matters and head coach Kevin O'Connell is a big reason why he has so much faith in McCarthy.

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Here's how the back-and-forth with Eisen and Wickersham went.

Eisen: If you have to put your marker on any quarterback 25 and younger in the National Football League right now, knowing what you know about quarterbacking, makeups of quarterbacks, where they currently are, what they've done so far, you put your mark on this person to win multiple Super Bowls?

Wickersham: I'm going to go with J.J. How about that?

Eisen: McCarthy? Come on. Don't just say that. You really would do that? Over Jayden Daniels for instance? C.J. Stroud is another.

Wickersham: I met with Kevin O'Connell for the book. He of course was a great college quarterback. Four-year starter at San Diego State. He got drafted by the Patriots, thought he'd learn from Brady and then take that knowledge elsewhere — and his career essentially ended. We talked a lot about those scars and how that informs how he coaches quarterbacks and looks at them and one of the things that he did, was when he was getting these tryouts with teams, he would try to make the wow throw, the John Elway throw, and knock the coaching staff over with it. And he kept getting cut. He realized later, he went back and watched all of Brady's game-winning drives in Super Bowls and big games, Montana's, Elway's — and what stood out was how mundane they were. They looked like they were doing spring practice, even though the stakes couldn't have been higher. He realized that quarterbacking is really about doing the obvious thing that's right in front of you at the highest level you possibly can. There's a reason why Caleb Williams really liked Kevin O'Connell, as I wrote about. He just knows how to speak quarterback and I think that they're going to be really successful.

Eisen: So you're not just saying J.J. McCarthy because he's a Michigan guy, but you see what his talent is and it's in the hands of Kevin O'Connell and that is why you're saying what you're saying?

Wickersham: The theme of our segment: context matters.