What Vikings' Kevin O'Connell learned about J.J. McCarthy amid lost rookie season

Previous stories detailed how Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell, quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and other members of the staff included quarterback and 2024 first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy in Saturday game plan meetings as McCarthy spent his entire rookie season recovering from the full meniscus repair he needed last summer. 

During a recent chat with Kevin Seifert of ESPN, O'Connell touched upon how his experiences with McCarthy throughout the 2024 campaign helped Minnesota determine that the 22-year-old will be ready to serve as Sam Darnold's full-time replacement this September.

"I just wanted to give him a platform with me," O'Connell said about working with McCarthy last season. "Maybe it was football one day. Maybe it was no football. My time is very hard to find during the season, but I just wanted to make sure that we got together. The one thing I learned about him in those meetings is he had great questions, and that validated that he was receiving and getting something out of that time. And as I've told him, it doesn't really guarantee you anything, but once you're fighting the fight on a daily basis of growing within the system, he would be able to rely on some of what we did together."

As recently as early January, it seemed likely that Minnesota would want to hold onto Darnold after he guided the club to a 14-2 record. However, he then struggled through a pair of back-to-back losses that ended the Vikings' season, including a disheartening 27-9 wild-card playoff defeat against the Los Angeles Rams.

There's no indication the Vikings came all that close to re-signing Darnold before he received a three-year, $100.5M contract from the Seattle Seahawks that Seattle could escape as soon as next offseason. Meanwhile, O'Connell spent some time this past spring kicking around the idea of Minnesota starting future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers over McCarthy later this year. The Vikings instead passed on offering Rodgers a deal before he joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in June. 

"I haven't had an injury like this that sat me down for so long," McCarthy acknowledged ahead of his first training camp serving as Minnesota's QB1."And I was very grateful for the opportunity that I had to really get a head start on the mental side of the game. Getting on the same page with [O'Connell] has been awesome. Last season, seeing how he calls the games and everything like that, as well as the intricate personality traits of the guys on the team -- and him being able to feed those that help strengthen the overall group and help strengthen them individually -- and be there for them when some things aren't going their way."

As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had McCarthy fifth among the betting favorites at +850 odds to claim the Comeback Player of the Year Award for the upcoming season. That same outlet had the Vikings at +1300 odds to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LX. 

If McCarthy meets or exceeds the expectations had for him by O'Connell, Minnesota fans could be in for a campaign they won't soon forget.