Murphy: Welcome to the new age at QB
Brian Murphy writes that the Vikings' history of stumbling around at QB may be over
By Brian Murphy
When it comes to quarterback odysseys and one team’s unholy quest for a savior, you have to stand back in awe at the all-time champion of exaggerated claims, false hopes and what might have been.
Sixty-five years of unfulfilled Super Bowl aspirations have left Vikings fans with bone-deep scars and emotional baggage that J.J. McCarthy should not have to carry, but here we are at another crossroads for this forlorn franchise and its latest prodigy.
McCarthy’s future as the highest quarterback Minnesota ever drafted has finally arrived after a journey no one saw coming. All it took was 11 unhinged months, two unplanned knee surgeries, 14 unexpected victories and a quarterback shell game McCarthy was destined to win if only Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones got the hell out of his way.
Meanwhile, we are all dumber for having to endure a vapid news cycle of Aaron Rodgers-to-Minnesota speculation. As if that charred husk of toxic masculinity and diminished skills should be trusted to mentor McCarthy and maintain harmony in a drama-free locker room. And you thought March Madness was only synonymous with basketball.
There are some mad scientist vibes to general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell letting a 27-year-old Pro Bowl quarterback walk out the door after an MVP-caliber regular season that swirled down the drain of an awful two weeks. But they deserve credit for staying true to their competitive and philosophical rebuild of a roster that had steadily calcified and disproportionately consumed payroll during the slow-motion Spielman-Zimmer trainwreck.
Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell kicked the Kirk Cousins can as far down the dirt path as they could. Today, Cousins is salary cap road kill in Atlanta. The Vikings started spending their $60 million in free-agent spending to patch holes on the offensive line to elevate McCarthy into the starting role for which he was pre-ordained.
Just as they planned all along, eh?
McCarthy will be judged immediately on his ability to allay fears about his surgically repaired meniscus and whether he forges an alpha identity after spending almost a year in the twin shadows of rehab and Darnold.
Nothing is guaranteed beyond the $75 million Seattle ponied up in the $100-million contract the Seahawks offered to lure Darnold to the Pacific Northwest. Three years of earned security for Darnold the Vikings were unwilling competitively or politically to put on the table with McCarthy idling on the sideline. Which closes one chapter and opens another fascinating one in Minnesota’s long and winding quarterback history, which is fraught with short-term fixes and long-term misery.
Darnold joins a rogue’s gallery of one-year wonders who titillated and tormented fans with big arms, big wins and big faceplants, from Randall Cunningham and Jeff George to Donovan McNabb and Sam Bradford.
There were draft busts like Christian Ponder and Tarvaris Jackson and flashes of brilliance from Daunte Culpepper and Teddy Bridgewater before devastating injuries wrecked their nascent careers.
Along the way Case Keenum led them to 13 wins, the NFC championship game and a one-way ticket to insurance commercials.
Cousins managed one meager wild card win for $185 million worth of warm milk.
And O’Connell’s teams have been outscored 58-33 in losses to two playoff underdogs -- the 2024 Rams and the 2022 Giants led by Daniel Jones.
Ironically, Jones cashed New York paychecks collecting dust on Minnesota’s practice squad late last season before deciding he’d rather compete against regressing Anthony Richardson for the starting job in Indianapolis than McCarthy, the ascending golden boy of Minnesota.
Darnold’s future in Minnesota was never guaranteed beyond 2024, no matter how effectively he had resurrected his career. But back-to-back failures Week 18 in Detroit and the wild-card playoff loss to the Rams when the stakes were highest rekindled every hot take that derailed Darnold the moment he arrived in New York in 2018 as the Jets’ No. 3 overall pick.
It wasn’t just the turnovers, inaccuracy and yips that plagued him, but the indecisiveness and happy feet in the pocket that belied everything we thought we had learned about the first-time Pro Bowler.
It’s easy to lose focus on the fantasy league fever dreams that afflict NFL fans every March, when everyone is the smartest GM in the room spending someone else’s money. Fretting about letting Darnold go feeds that frenzy.
It’s not how they expected to get there, but the Vikings are exactly where they need to be with McCarthy.
Brian Murphy is a former Pioneer Press columnist and contributor to Purple Insider.
Great tome of the Vikings qb saga!
Gosh, Murphy can write! Love his articles and insights. And bravo KAM and KOC to sticking with their plan.