It looks like Kevin O’Connell is having doubts about turning the offense over to J.J. McCarthy. At first, it looked like the Minnesota Vikings were keen on giving the young quarterback a chance to take over the offense after not re-signing Sam Darnold.
But with the Vikings continuing to flirt with the idea of signing Aaron Rodgers, is O’Connell having doubts about McCarthy? Surely he’s not making a dramatic move because of job security. So why else would the Vikings truly be interested in adding Rodgers to the quarterback room?
My guess would be O’Connell is either hesitating to just throw McCarthy in the mix and also not going to pass up on the chance of a Super Bowl run with a Super Bowl winning quarterback.
Maybe this was the play all along, to push Darnold and Daniel Jones to the wayside for Rodgers to be inserted into this offense and lead the charge for a team that is truly a quarterback away from going on a playoff run.
Either way, the message O’Connell is sending to McCarthy appears he doesn’t trust him just yet, though that can certainly change.
Kevin O’Connell might be eating his words as the Minnesota Vikings continue to entertain signing Aaron Rodgers
Once upon a time, O’Connell deemed McCarthy the “young franchise quarterback” that Vikings fans should be excited about. Yet after an injury halted his NFL debut, O’Connell seems to be backtracking off those statements.
He hasn’t outright said he’s retracting his statements, but the Vikings looking at Rodgers as a short term replacement for Darnold is more than enough of an explanation about how he feels about his “future franchise quarterback” right about now.
I understand why O’Connell is pursuing all options. And truthfully I believe the decision to sign Darnold or Rodgers is mutually exclusive. I think he still believes in McCarthy right now, that’s why they didn’t re-sign Darnold, even on a franchise tag deal.
With Rodgers, he’s not playing more than a season or two max with the Vikings, let alone in the NFL. So this is a way to get the perfect bridge option for McCarthy and still get a reputable quarterback under center to lead this offense.
The Vikings have all the pieces to help Rodgers regain his old self and the offense would definitely take off with him under center. Maybe O’Connell’s looking at this as a chance to get a steal rather than a means to an end.