As he reflected on everything that happened this season, head coach Kevin O’Connell acknowledged that the Vikings fell short of their ultimate goal. It pained him to watch the playoffs last weekend rather them compete in them.
Though there were a lot of variables that went into the Vikings underachieving by their standards, the misevaluation of quarterback J.J. McCarthy and his readiness played arguably the biggest role in that.
Asked on Tuesday afternoon at TCO Performance Center about the plan at the most important position, O’Connell expressed confidence in McCarthy while also leaving the door wide open to bring in somebody else, saying, “It’s about having the most talented and deep quarterback room that we can.”
On that note, O’Connell seemed to indicate that the Vikings need to more competition for McCarthy, which sets the stage for a fascinating next few months as it pertains to the future of the franchise.
“That’s what’s going to make everybody better,” O’Connell said. “I definitely want a competitive situation.”
It’s still unclear how big of a swing the Vikings plan to take over the next few months. There are a number of routes they could take whenever they decide to wade into those water. They will leave no stone unturned throughout the process.
The only certainty at this point is that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell haven’t fully committed to McCarthy as their starter for the Vikings next season. He will have to earn the right by beating out whoever the Vikings decide to bring in.
“We’ve set a standard here for winning when we’ve gotten a certain level of play at that position,” Adofo-Mensah said. “That has allowed us to be explosive enough on offense to set the table for how we play defense.”
In other words, when the Vikings have been at their best in the past, they have generated a number of big plays on offense, which, in turn, has allowed them to thrive on defense.
That was especially evident last season with veteran quarterback Sam Darnold was at the helm. There was a balance on both sides of the ball that helped the Vikings finish with a 14-3 record.
The difference was drastic this season with McCarthy leading the charge. There were too many times that the offense needed to be bailed out be the defense and that resulted in the Vikings finishing with a 9-8 record.
“Just seeing how when we weren’t that explosive how teams played us,” Adofo-Mensah said. “That was a great learning experience that tied into the quarterback discussion and we will carry that with us moving forward.”
That explains why the Vikings have placed an emphasis on adding more competition for McCarthy that goes beyond what they had this season in veteran quarterback Carson Wentz and rookie quarterback Max Brosmer.
Not only did McCarthy prove to be wildly inconsistent, completing 57.6% of his pass attempts for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, he also struggled to stay on the field, missing time with a high ankle sprain, a concussion, and a broken hand.
“We’re still looking at a quarterback who has started 10 games,” O’Connell said. “Not the ideal path for a quarterback to develop on the field.”
That might be the most concerning part about McCarthy. He’s started only 10 games in his career despite the fact that the Vikings have played 34 games since selecting him in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
That doesn’t mean there wasn’t growth from McCarthy. He showed marked improvement over the final month of this season, albeit against some of the worst defenses in the NFL, which provided some glimpses of what he could potentially be down the road.
“I was really encouraged by the type of football he started to play toward the second half of this season and finishing the way he did,” O’Connell said. “We all just tried to have a mindset on completions and how we could generate them and we started to see a little bit of that show up.”
That wasn’t enough for Adofo-Mensah or O’Connell to guarantee that McCarthy will be the starter for the Vikings next season.
“I know that he wants it more than anybody I’ve ever been around,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We’re excited to see his development and the steps he takes towards being available for us.”
Briefly
After wrapping up all of his exit interviews last week, O’Connell announced on Tuesday afternoon that assistant head coach Mike Pettine is retiring from the NFL. In his career, Pettine spent time with the Baltimore Ravens, the New York Jets, the Buffalo Bills, the Cleveland Browns, the Seattle Seahawks, the Green Bay Packers, and the Chicago Bears, filling a variety of different roles in that span.
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