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Kevin Seifert
EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings kept two essential principles in mind when searching for a quarterback in the 2024 draft. They needed to assess the skills of each player, of course, but they also wanted to project the type of team to build around the player they ultimately acquired.
“What people don’t understand about the quarterback-selection process is that it’s not just the quarterback themselves,” coach Kevin O’Connell told ESPN at the time. “It’s: ‘What does the rest of the picture look like with that quarterback?'”
The second part drove the Vikings’ team-building plan for this season, when they tapped J.J. McCarthy to take over the position and then assembled the NFL’s third-oldest roster with a cash payroll of nearly $350 million to support his development in real time. It made sense. The No. 10 pick was the youngest member of the 2024 quarterback draft class, with by far the fewest college passing attempts and less of the transcendent physical traits that some of the others possessed.
After he missed his rookie season because of a torn meniscus in his right knee, McCarthy couldn’t be counted on to elevate the team as the Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels and the New England Patriots’ Drake Maye have. To succeed in 2025, the Vikings would need to win with McCarthy — sometimes in spite of him and occasionally because of him.
Let’s consider five ways the Vikings hoped to support McCarthy and how it has impacted their 4-4 start. Many of them hadn’t surfaced until he returned from a five-week absence (high right ankle sprain) for Sunday’s 27-24 upset of the Detroit Lions — and it is not an exaggeration to say they will remain key to Minnesota’s chances of reaching the playoffs.
“There were some real elements of quarterback play,” O’Connell said this week of McCarthy’s play in Detroit. “And then in the moments where maybe it got loose, or we can tighten things up, that’s what we’re here for, and that’s all part of the journey he’s on.”
Elite pass catchers who just need a chance
The Vikings assembled six veteran skill players who can all make life easier for McCarthy in the pass game. Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and Jalen Nailor all made what NFL Next Gen Stats calls a “tight window” reception against the Lions, meaning the nearest defender was less than a yard away.
Tight end T.J. Hockenson knows how to find open spots on the field for midrange gains. Running back Aaron Jones Sr. remains one of the league’s best receivers at his position. Receiver Adam Thielen hasn’t played much since Addison returned from a three-game NFL suspension, but he provides an experienced hedge against injury.
More importantly, the group can adjust to imperfectly thrown balls, whether they were inaccurate or thrown at an unexpected velocity. Addison came back to an underthrown ball Sunday to haul in a 31-yard completion. Jefferson made a one-handed catch for a touchdown on a 10-yard fade route that McCarthy threw too hard. And Hockenson had to brace himself before securing a 7-yard score that McCarthy again threw with scorching velocity.
O’Connell expressed confidence this week that McCarthy will learn to better calibrate the speed of his throws but said: “It’s all part of the development. It’s normal.”
Until then, the Vikings have pass catchers who can compensate.
.@JJettas2 with one hand is better than your favorite receiver with two hands.
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/Bem62DKzHC
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) November 2, 2025
Realistic game plans and playcalls
It takes time to understand the schemes a young quarterback is comfortable with, and what might put him in a tough position, but O’Connell’s takeaways are beginning to be evident on the field.
The top-line takeaway is that O’Connell isn’t asking McCarthy to throw nearly as often compared to the veteran quarterbacks the Vikings have used in recent years. In three games with McCarthy, the Vikings have used designed passes on 57.4% of their plays. With Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold taking most of the snaps between 2022 and 2024, that rate was 64.7%. And in five games this season with backup Carson Wentz, that rate was 68.1%, although that number is somewhat skewed because the Vikings faced deficits for most of that stretch.
O’Connell has increased his use of zone-read plays, from a rate of 1.6% from 2022 to 2024 to 5.8% when McCarthy has been on the field, and he is also accommodating McCarthy’s apparent comfort on throws away from the middle of the field. Of his 66 total attempts, 46 have been targeted toward receivers outside the numbers.
“I just think it’s about doing things that he’s comfortable doing right now,” O’Connell said. “Pre-snap, post-snap, what we’re asking him to do in the pass game. Where are the areas that we’re continually working fundamentally, and where are the areas throughout the game, the ebbs and flows of games, where we see some of the inconsistencies that come with a young player who just made his third start?
“So, I think we’re going to try to do the things we think gives our offense a chance, but all that goes through a scope of what J.J. does well.”
Experienced offensive line
The Vikings hoped to protect McCarthy with an offensive line stocked with proven veterans and a rookie first-round draft pick in left guard Donovan Jackson, and they committed an NFL-high $91.2 million in cash this season to do it. Only six other teams are within $20 million of that number. But injuries and recovery plans have prevented the full group from playing a single snap together in the first half of the season.
Wentz’s sack rate was 9.3%, the seventh-highest in the league during his five-game stint. But in Detroit, the Vikings got four of their five intended starters on the field together for a full game, with only center Ryan Kelly (concussion protocol) missing. That leaves McCarthy working with reserve center Blake Brandel, a converted guard. Kelly has begun working out on a side field during practice in anticipation of a return later this season, and otherwise McCarthy’s protection is better resourced than any quarterback in the league.
Defense powering wins
The Vikings did not leave much to chance in collecting their defensive roster. When at full strength, nine of the 11 positions are manned by veterans who have at least four years of experience and are on multiyear second contracts. They did not envision a defense that merely limited opposing offenses. Instead, they wanted one that could put their own offense in advantageous positions through turnovers and favorable field position.
The group has had its ups and downs, but it ranks second in the NFL in creating 7.13 plays of negative yardage per game. It ranks No. 16 with nine takeaways, although five came in one game. Sunday, however, provided a better glimpse of the Vikings’ decision.
With linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel playing regularly for the first time since Week 1, the Vikings caused 10 plays of negative yardage, the most in the NFL in Week 9 and tied for the second-most for a game all season when not counting kneel-downs. They had only one takeaway — a fumble that linebacker Blake Cashman forced and safety Harrison Smith recovered — but it gave the offense the ball at the Lions’ 35-yard line. McCarthy capped that possession with a 9-yard touchdown run. Overall, two of the Vikings’ three touchdown drives on the day started inside the Lions’ 40-yard line.
.@blockayyy punches it out!!!
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/ab1mfWIlt8
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) November 2, 2025
Special teams that fill in gaps
Place-kicker Will Reichard has proved a potent hedge against stalled drives. He has converted all 26 of his kicks that were less than 50 yards, including 16 extra points and 10 field goals. And his six field goals of 50 yards or longer are tied for the second-most in the NFL. His makes include one from 62 yards and two from 59. Effectively, the Vikings are in scoring range whenever they cross midfield.
Meanwhile, rookie returner Myles Price has provided unexpected juice. He has 8 kickoff returns of more than 30 yards and 3 punt returns of at least 20 yards. Five of those long kickoff returns have been called back by penalty, however, including a 99-yard touchdown Sunday in Detroit. But his 61-yard return in the first quarter against the Lions set up McCarthy’s first drive since the ankle injury at the Lions’ 36-yard line.
“It really kind of quieted the crowd honestly,” said special teams coordinator Matt Daniels, “as J.J. was able to enter the field as he’s kind of finding his way of being poised in the noise.”
Overall, the Vikings’ average drive start against the Lions was the 34.8-yard line, the fourth-highest for any NFL team in Week 9. Until that point, largely because of the penalties, it had been the 28.9-yard line. It made a huge difference.