Friday(ish) mailbag: What's next with McCarthy out?

Vikings fans are wondering how the Vikings will go forth without their top pick this year

Photo courtesy Minnesota Vikings

---

By Matthew Coller

Happy Friday everyone! One thing I’ve learned from doing the mailbag every week since 2020 is that a LOT can change in a single week. My goodness that holds true for this week. Let’s dive into what’s on Vikings fans’ minds…

Kyle S…. Now that you’ve seen some practices, joint practices and a preseason game … who are you ready to crown?

That No. 18 might be somethin, man.

I’ll crown the edge rushers. Greenard, Van Ginkel, Turner, Jones, Ward and the second-teamers have all shown a lot this summer. I’ll throw a crown on the safeties and the depth receivers for stepping up. And the Mr. Mankato crown will go to Will Reichard as long as he boots it pretty well in these last two preseason games.

Brian_H… The logical side of my brain does not believe in curses but it's hard not to feel like something is karmically off about this franchise. Just in the categories of quarterback knee injuries alone we have Culpepper ('05), Teddy ('16), Bradford ('17), and now McCarthy who also happens to be the only first round quarterback in the modern era to miss his entire rookie season due to injury. Is this just the bias that comes from being too close to it or are they truly snakebit?

I have to admit, the probability of all these things happening to one franchise has to be almost 0%. Of course nobody should act like McCarthy falls under the same category as those other guys because he will get an opportunity to take over as the franchise QB at age 22. Lots of athletes have long careers after this exact same surgery so the most likely outcome is that he gets right back into action.

But if you are a Vikings fan that feels like some sort of deal with the devil must have been hatched and all of this is a twisted joke, well, today is not the day that I can tell you that you’re wrong. Here’s the only bit of positivity I can toss your way about the big picture of Minnesota sports curses: Lots of teams have cursed histories. And then one year comes along that everything clicks and suddenly they are winners. Usually that correlates with getting the right QB…

Brian….Is "routine soreness" the new "tweak"? KOC is like the the doctor on Arrested Development who makes things sound opposite of what they are. Him saying Addison will be "all right" has me anticipating amputation. Anyway I hate this season already.

My interpretation of the “routine soreness” thing was that when McCarthy came into the building and told them that he was sore, they figured that it might not be a big deal because sometimes players are still banged up after their first preseason game. But it seems KOC talked to us before they put the knee in an MRI machine. After they did, they discovered the tear in his meniscus.

Huge points for the Arrested Development reference. “He’s going to be all right.”

I’ve found KOC to be on the optimistic side when it comes to injuries overall but I can’t blame any coach for trying to avoid giving exact timelines. Then it seems like you’re pressuring the guy to come back in exactly X number of weeks.

Denton D… Since we don’t get another look at McCarthy until ‘25 what are the signs you saw in practice and in the game that makes you think that McCarthy is not Sloter 2.0. Sloter also put up good numbers against other teams number 2s and 3s but apparently Zimmer did not like what he saw on practice. Is it that McCarthy executed the plays while Sloter freelanced too much?

Well, for starters, McCarthy was the 10th overall pick in the draft and he’s 21 years old. He was a 5-star quarterback from IMG and a national champion at Michigan. Sloter played one year at Northern Colorado. He was a UDFA who was already cut by another team. By the time he became an internet celebrity in Year 2 as a Vikings camp-body QB he was 25 years old.

McCarthy is outrageously more talented. He was offered a D1 scholarship when he was in 7th grade. He’s better at literally everything. Stronger arm, way more accurate, much much much higher football IQ, faster, stronger and elite at implementing coaching, he’s a natural leader…Toss in self aware, too. This is like asking why Anthony Edwards is better than someone in the Wolves’ G League.

For McCarthy’s age, he showed the maturity of a veteran quarterback. He was in command of the offense by the middle of training camp. His work ethic to make massive improvements in his accuracy from Day 1 to when you saw him against Las Vegas was incredibly impressive. What you saw in the game is everything we’ve seen in practice and heard behind the scenes. He’s only going to get better from here.

And McCarthy did it against the Raiders’ second team, not in the fourth quarter against all guys that were getting cut.

Other than that….

Jake W…. So many Edge, so few roster spots. What do you see as the current projection to make the team? Obviously Turner, Van Ginkel and Greenard. Richter, Carter, Murphy, Porter and Jones seem to have shown potential as well, plus Jihad Ward's experience.

They haven’t said what’s going on with Gabe Murphy, maybe he starts on IR. Porter and Richter can get through to the practice squad. Jones is definitely on the team and Jihad Ward looks like he’s going to make it. He might actually be pretty good in a pure situational role. That was the case in Baltimore a few years ago.

Brian K… It seems that things didn't go so well for Darnold on the first day of practice with the Browns. Was there a clear single reason why? Was it getting pressured early? Addison being out and Jefferson getting more coverage? Making risky throws? I'm just wondering how much we should think this is likely to be an issue going forward.

All of the reasons you named. Myles Garrett was ruining everything. Addison is a super talented first-round pick. It’s not the same to throw in guys who are WR3/4/5 types and hope for the same results against a good secondary like Cleveland has. Darnold looked very Darnold-y at times both days where he took shots on plays where throwing underneath might have been ideal.

If Darnold doesn’t have the full squad around him, it’s going to be really hard to succeed. Maybe it will end up being a good experience. He’s going to face some really good defenses out of the gate.

To underscore how important avoiding pressure is with Darnold, here’s his clean and pressured PFF grades:

2023: 75.1 clean vs. 52.3 pressured (out of 100)

2022: 80.6 vs. 50.4

2021: 72.1 vs. 33.3

2020: 59.1 vs. 54.7

2019: 86.6 vs. 35.1

2018: 74.5 vs. 46.8

To put those numbers in context, grading over 80 with a clean pocket puts a QB in the 15-20 range. Grading in the 30s under pressure is as bad as it gets.

Jake W… Najee Thompson was a punt gunner extraordinaire last year but hasn't been practicing. Due to the issues in the CB room, I'd imagine they are more likely to keep extra cover depth over a strictly special teamer this year.

What is the upside to keeping 3 QBs on the 53 this year, even after JJ's injury? To me, you have Sam start, Mullens is the guy who gets thrown into action if there is an injury. With the practice squad elevation rules, why not try to get Jaren Hall on the practice squad and if he's sniped, move to the next emergency quarterback. I like Jaren but we know he has no future here now that we have JJ.

You’re probably right about the cornerback room. Still with more kickoffs they are going to need dudes that play special teams. Maybe someone like Jay Ward sticks because of that.

There is no upside to keeping 3 QBs on the 53-man roster now. It would have made some sense with Darnold, McCarthy, Mullens because somebody would have picked up Mullens if they cut him. It’s pretty unlikely that someone poaches Hall if he’s cut and they can keep him on the practice squad.

They signed Matt Corral today. I don’t know if he has any chance to land on the PS or not.

Mark… I feel the season has no meaning now with JJ injured. Since they are low on picks in 25, why not auction off anyone excerpt Jets, Darrisaw, and Turner? 24 is now uninteresting anyway.

They haven’t played a game and you already want to tear the roster down? That’s an odd mentality for someone following the Minnesota Vikings. This is the same team that had a 2-2 record in 2017 then lost Sam Bradford and Dalvin Cook and somehow ended up in the NFC Championship game. They’ve had QBs like Jim McMahon, Jeff George, Christian Ponder and Gus Frerotte quarterback them to playoff seasons. Saying a Vikings season is “uninteresting” is a pretty wild statement because there is yet to be a normal Vikings season since their inception.

If things are a mess at the trade deadline, move anything that isn’t nailed down for draft capital. But there’s a lot nailed down so you might just have to strap yourself into the old Vikings roller coaster and go along for the ride.

Jordan D…. Thayer Thomas. How do we get him on the roster? Do we need to keep 7 WRs? It doesn’t seem justifiable to cut Trent Sherfield or Trishton Jackson. Is it possible any of them would make it to the practice squad without being poached?

I’m not sure there is going to be room for Thomas. Seems like a practice squad situation for him again. Keeping six receivers makes sense. They’d have a difficult choice between Trishton Jackson and Trent Sherfield if they were only going to keep five. Lucky Jackson is in that conversation for me as well.

I wouldn’t worry too much about guys getting poached. How many times per year do we see guys getting signed off waivers after cutdown day? A handful?

Steve D…I understand that long term JJ is probably going to be fine, but also WHY CAN'T WE HAVE NICE THINGS?!?!?

I wish I knew, man. Generally speaking I’ve seen so many things happen to this team that I’m unfazed but McCarthy getting hurt right after that game is an all-time gut punch to Vikings fans.

PurpFoolio… I heard you say you like the vibes in the quarterback room before. Is there a section of the roster that you really don’t love the dynamics between coaching and personnel?

That’s a tough one because you usually don’t know something is off within a room until something goes sideways. The best I might be able to do here would be that the connection between the running back’s talents, the run scheme and the offensive linemen’s talents hasn’t always matched up. Maybe that will be different this year with a larger dude at left guard and a more talented runner.

Jordan D…. What is your current % meter for KOC and Kwesi getting contract extensions after this season? I’d say KOC is at 99% and it’s incredible unlikely he loses the locker room anytime soon. Kwesi I think is more like 85%. I think the Wilfs want to confirm all the new additions to the roster will open the 2025-20?? window before they lock in a decision on Kwesi. I also think it’s possible they were ready to extend KOC, but didn’t want to just extend him and not Kwesi because it would be awkward. I sure hope the win/loss record this season won’t impact the Wilfs’ decision making on this as much as I fear it could. Window opening should be the primary goal.