Then there’s the team’s quarterback conundrum.
Darnold posted a career year as the unexpected starter of the Vikings, completing 66.2% of his passes for 4,319 yards and posting a 35-12 TD-INT ratio. With Darnold leading the way, Minnesota won 14 games and nearly secured the NFC’s top seed entering the postseason.
The Vikings didn’t, though, because they lost in blowout fashion to the NFC North rival Lions in Week 18 in a game that stood as Darnold’s worst of 2024. When the lights shined even brighter a week later, Darnold again fell short, completing 25 of 40 passes but appearing overwhelmingly hesitant while taking nine sacks in another lopsided loss.
With McCarthy, who missed his entire rookie season after hurting his knee in the preseason, on the roster and considering how Darnold ended the season, the veteran’s place on the team is far from guaranteed with free agency looming.
“For me, looking at Sam’s body of work, Sam should be very proud of what he put together,” O’Connell said. “From start to finish, he answered the bell day in and day out with his preparation. I think he learned a lot about what can be in this league. I think he proved to the whole league that he can play a winning level at quarterback, winning 14 games really in the first year. Nobody’s been able to do before in our league and I think that’s a testament to Sam and (quarterbacks coach) Josh (McCown) and (assistant quarterbacks coach) Grant (Udinski), the guys working with him on a daily basis, and his teammates around him.
“When I think about the year that Sam had, I envisioned him having that kind of year when we identified him as a guy that we wanted to add to this organization last year and everything that took place after that was all systematic process to help him play the best football of his career, which I think he did. I’m really proud of Sam for that.”
Yes, Darnold deserves commendation for his efforts, but praise alone won’t properly describe his season in total, nor will it inform the Vikings in how they proceed. Because he’s a personnel executive, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah operates from a roster-building perspective, noting “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to assemble a lot of talented players in that room who fit your vision.” He feels good about the team’s situation at the position and said as much Thursday without committing to Darnold, instead placing value on roster flexibility.
“When you think about that decision (drafting McCarthy at No. 10), again I’ve talked about the most important position in the sport, you want to give yourself options,” Adofo-Mensah said. “I think the draft is uncertain, free agency, all of this is uncertain. We brought in two guys who we think can play at a high level at quarterback in this position.
“Obviously, J.J. being a high draft pick is somebody that you’re invested in for the future and all those different things. How that looks timeline-wise, we didn’t necessarily decide. We knew that we really like the room that we had, and we were confident in that.”