NFL Rumors: Vikings Haven't Ruled Out J.J. McCarthy Being QB1 over Sam Darnold Week 1

Even though the Minnesota Vikings traded up to select J.J. McCarthy with the 10th pick in the 2024 NFL draft hoping he will become their quarterback of the future, there appears to be a very legitimate competition with Sam Darnold right now.

Per ESPN's Kevin Seifert, the Vikings haven't ruled out McCarthy as their starter to open the regular season, but they "want his ascension to be organic" instead of putting him on the field because they don't have anyone better.

This tracks with what Seifert wrote soon after the draft that the Vikings are "extremely wary" of rushing McCarthy because of the research they've done about "the risks of exposing quarterbacks before they're ready."

The Vikings signed Darnold to a one-year, $10 million deal with $9 million guaranteed in free agency.

While that's not a huge salary, it's still a significant deal that made Darnold the 20th-highest paid quarterback in the league.

Dane Mizutani of the St. Paul Pioneer Press noted Darnold has been taking reps with the starters during the early portion of OTAs.

"I enjoy the process of learning a new offense," Darnold said. "Obviously a lot of hard work has to go into it, and I still am learning a ton."

Head coach Kevin O'Connell has been careful about not wanting to put too much pressure on McCarthy right now.

"He's doing a great job of handling everything and just enjoying seeing the process, rep-to-rep improvement, taking coaching points from Josh or Wes or myself, and just continuing to build on what we–we spent a lot of time together pre-draft, and one of the real benefits of that, is in a lot of ways, a lot of things we're talking about he's not hearing for the first time now," O'Connell told reporters during Vikings rookie minicamp.

B/R NFL scout Derrik Klassen noted in his pre-draft report for McCarthy that he's coming from a Michigan system that didn't ask him to do much, so he needs to "take time to develop his ability to progress from the pocket and, hopefully, add weight and strength."

If the Vikings feel the same way, it would be in their best interest to let Darnold open the season as the starter. The 26-year-old has started 56 games in his six-year NFL career.

But if McCarthy is able to impress the coaching staff during OTAs, training camp and the preseason, it wouldn't be a surprise to see O'Connell give him the keys to the offense in Week 1 against the New York Giants.