The Minnesota Vikings entered the offseason with several pressing questions about the state of their roster.
Kirk Cousins left the team to join the Atlanta Falcons as their newest starting quarterback, and Justin Jefferson has yet to sign his contract extension.
While Jefferson is expected to stay, fans are becoming increasingly anxious about the team’s inability to close a deal at this point.
The team has seemingly secured their quarterback of the future with J.J. McCarthy, as they selected him with the No. 10 pick in this year’s draft.
While McCarthy might be the team’s future, it seems like they are not expecting to roll him out in Week 1 of the 2024 season.
Analyst Alec Lewis recently said, “I fully expect Sam Darnold to be the starter Week 1,” which was shared by The Purple Persuasion on Twitter.
Per @Alec_Lewis via @KFAN1003, he fully expects Sam Darnold to be the starter week 1
“I fully expect Sam Darnold to be the starter week 1… I think that is the way that you develop a guy optimally, is you don’t throw him into the fire until everyone in the building fully… pic.twitter.com/Meb3HmaEVq
— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) May 2, 2024
Lewis isn’t trying to say anything negative about McCarthy with this sentiment, but there is a growing belief in the NFL that rookies tend to take a bit longer to develop, especially at the quarterback position.
If the Vikings give McCarthy some time to grow and develop to become more comfortable with the team’s schemes, it could result in better-sustained success down the road.
While Darnold’s career hasn’t panned out as well as anticipated, given his draft position, he is an NFL vet who can give the Vikings a few starts until they feel like McCarthy is ready.
The Vikings have looked good on paper at times throughout the past several years, but it will be interesting to see if McCarthy was the missing piece that can help them take the next step.
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