We all knew J.J. McCarthy would become a first-round pick during the 2024 NFL Draft, but which team was going to select McCarthy? There were rumblings about the New England Patriots, New York Giants, Denver Broncos, and the Minnesota Vikings all being interested in the Michigan QB — but which team really wanted him? After both the Patriots and Giants passed on McCarthy, the Vikings traded up one spot to secure the selection of McCarthy.
J.J. enters a terrific situation in Minnesota. The Vikings have been searching for their franchise QB of the future and after not signing Kirk Cousins to another contract it became apparent Minnesota was going to draft someone to compete with Sam Darnold. McCarthy enters an offense friendly system with head coach Kevin O’Connell and he has elite targets in Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and TJ Hockenson.
After McCarthy was selected, there were multiple national media outlets that graded the selection. Here’s what people thought about the Vikings’ selection of the former Michigan great.
Grade: C+
They had to fill the quarterback spot, so it makes sense to take McCarthy. I don’t love him as much as others do, but it will be interesting to see how Kevin O’Connell and company will make it work.
Pete Prisco isn’t very high on McCarthy, but the Vikings did exactly what they needed to do. There were four QBs selected before J.J. and if Minnesota was as high on McCarthy as everyone thought they were, this is a much better selection than a C+.
The picks: QB J.J. McCarthy (No. 10) and OLB Dallas Turner (No. 17)
All along, McCarthy was linked to the Vikings. And all along, we thought they might have to give up their other first-round pick — No. 23 — to get him. Instead, though, they patiently waited. They traded up one spot with the Jets, got their guy and kept the No. 23 pick. That’s a huge win.
McCarthy, who finished No. 15 in my rankings, is going to a great spot. Coach Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings will put him in position to succeed. Plus, he’s going to be throwing passes to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson. This is a great fit for a young signal-caller.
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Mel Kiper Jr. listed the Vikings as the second-best winner behind the Chicago Bears after the first round concluded. Minnesota was also able to land Dallas Turner, the Alabama EDGE rusher, to pair with McCarthy in round one. The Vikings being able to land two top-10 players is a thing of beauty.
What an offseason for the Vikings. After making a big pre-draft move, Minnesota was able to land a quarterback (and climb one spot) without surrendering its other first-round pick. (The Vikings sent Nos. 11, 129 and 157 to the Jets for this spot and No. 203.) All this mere months after Minnesota lost Cousins, its previous franchise QB.
McCarthy’s skill set has had NFL evaluators on alert for three years, though his work inside Michigan’s run-heavy offense made it very difficult to totally project what he’ll be immediately in the NFL. A very tough, aggressive passer in the mold of his former coach (Harbaugh), McCarthy’s an unquestioned winner (63-3 record since high school).
He may need to learn behind Sam Darnold for a minute, but this is a great long-term fit with Kevin O’Connell — and he could be more ready early on than some believe.
Grade: A
Like most reasonable people, Nick Baumgardner highlighted the benefit of Kevin O’Connell and J.J. McCarthy teaming up. McCarthy will be a terrific fit with O’Connell for the long term. Even if the Vikings want to go with Sam Darnold for year one, or a few weeks if he struggles, then McCarthy will be able to step in when that time comes.
Grade: A
The Vikings increased the quarterbacks drafted tally to five in the top 10 and needed to only move up one spot to secure their consistent QB of choice. After the Penix twist to the Falcons, McCarthy goes to another Rams offshoot offense where he can thrive with his arm, toughness and intangibles under Kevin O’Connell. Like Williams, Daniels and Penix, he goes to a team loaded with key weapons, including Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson. He has the best chance to steal OROY from Williams.
As Vinnie Iyer points out, McCarthy is headed to an offense with a ton of firepower. The Michigan man will have arguably the best WR in all of football to throw the ball to in Justin Jefferson. Add Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson into the mix — a ton of weapons at McCarthy’s disposal. Iyer even goes to say that McCarthy could win Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Grade: A-
Analysis: The Vikings moved up one spot to grab McCarthy, presumably to box out Denver and Las Vegas. He did not throw 40 times per game in Michigan’s run-heavy offense, but he has plenty of arm, excellent mobility and accuracy throwing to either side of the field. He can surprise with his open-field speed, and his ability to win games at the high school and collegiate level carries weight with NFL teams. While not a physical specimen, he is similarly built to C.J. Stroud and other quarterbacks recently drafted with top-10 picks. The Vikings made a pre-draft trade with the Texans to get a second first-round selection (23rd overall) and then moved up from that spot to nab Turner. His 4.46 40 turned heads at the combine, but he still fell, thanks to the rush for quarterbacks and likely also because of his average size for the position (6-2 3/4-inch, 247 pounds). He uses that low center of gravity and 34 3/8-inch arms to separate from blockers playing the run and long-arm them into the quarterback in pass-rush mode. He’s a very good value at 17, even though today’s trade ate away at the team’s mid-round capital, both this year and next. This draft is lean at edge rusher, and the Vikings decided to take a risk.
Chad Reuter grouped in both picks of McCarthy and Turner into one grade which gave Minnesota and A-. Reuter points out that McCarthy is a winner, even though he didn’t throw the ball a ton in Michigan’s offense, he can still get the job done with his physical tools. He compares McCarthy to former Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud — not sure about that comparison — but if he has the type of rookie season Stroud had last season, Vikings’ fans will be in love with the pick if they aren’t already.
PFF:
Pick Grade: Average
With Penix being drafted before McCarthy, Minnesota had to move up only one selection to get their quarterback competition for Sam Darnold. McCarthy has traits to work with and was excellent when Michigan needed him to make a play in third-and-long situations, but he wasn’t asked to carry the offense much at the college level. He does land in one of the league’s better situations for a rookie quarterback, as Minnesota has a solid offensive line and a talented receiving corps.
Pro Football Focus did a little bit of a different grading scale: Elite to below average. The Vikings got just an average grade from PFF, which isn’t very good on their scale. PFF isn’t sure about how McCarthy projects to the NFL with not being asked to throw the football much in college.
