The idea of the Vikings sitting J.J. McCarthy already is beyond reckless and would reek of an Anthony Richardson-style malpractice

Everyone wants to develop a young quarterback until it comes time to develop him.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Sep 14, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) speaks with Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell during the first half against the Atlanta Falcons at U.S. Bank Stadium.
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Not even 24 hours after the Minnesota Vikings beat the Cincinnati Bengals by a score of 48-10, head coach Kevin O’Connell was asked at Monday afternoon’s press conference if he would 100% commit to starting J.J. McCarthy once he is healthy enough to return. His answer was very open-ended.

“I think first and foremost, he’s got to get healthy. And then, throughout that process, I don’t think it’s one of those things where it’s, ‘Hey, the day he’s healthy.’ And if he’s healthy the night before a game, we’re going to just throw him out there and say, ‘Hey, go figure it out’ type of thing,” said O’Connell about the idea of starting McCarthy right when he’s healthy.

“I think we saw as phenomenal as he was getting prepared for the Atlanta game, he did miss practice that week. And when you’re in the phase of building up the 10,000 reps and 10,000 hours of what it takes to play the position at a very high level, which we know J.J. McCarthy is going to do, you can’t cut corners on that. And that also doesn’t require an answer on that question today.”

Benching J.J. McCarthy for Carson Wentz is a ludicrous idea

The answer O’Connell gave centered around waiting until McCarthy was healthy before making a decision. Of course, we saw multiple beat writers write about the idea being possible. You can interpret O’Connell’s words in that way, but the first part of the quote sticks out as to why it’s a ludicrous idea.

“I think first and foremost, he’s got to get healthy. And then, throughout that process, I don’t think it’s one of those things where it’s, ‘Hey, the day he’s healthy.’ And if he’s healthy the night before a game, we’re going to just throw him out there and say, ‘Hey, go figure it out’ type of thing.”

O’Connell is implying that McCarthy won’t play until he’s fully healthy and has practiced, relating back to the staff’s commitment to developing him as a young quarterback. This harkens back to the development mantra of “the process is the progress.” He wants McCarthy to do the right things to be ready for the game, giving him everything necessary to be successful. After all, that’s exactly what the Vikings are trying to do.

Here’s the one thing I can’t quite get past: why would an average game from Carson Wentz end up convincing O’Connell to bench McCarthy?

He had the addition of Christian Darrisaw, which is something that McCarthy didn’t have, and the defense played the game of its life. Plus, are we sure Wentz was that good on Sunday? He completed 70% of his passes, but left some plays on the field, and his QBR was a paltry 34.7. Not exactly superstar numbers, nor did he have the film to say anything else.

McCarthy is the starting quarterback, and every move the Vikings have made over the last 18 months has been with that in mind, including not making a significant effort to re-sign Sam Darnold, who won 14 games in 2024 as the Vikings quarterback.

Why would that change just three weeks into the season? The notion itself is ridiculous. The Vikings benching McCarthy after just two starts because he struggled and replacing him with Wentz, who played like an NFL backup, would be malpractice, like it was with Anthony Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts. If you veer off the path that you committed to because of a sprained ankle, it’s a signal of a much bigger problem.

Remember, the Colts understood they had a young and raw player in Richardson and knew he needed time, patience, and most importantly, reps. They threw him out too early, and he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury, which severely stunted his development. Then, he got benched halfway through his second season, and now he isn’t a starter at all despite being the fourth-overall pick.

If you bench McCarthy for Wentz, you are in danger of that, and it doesn’t make much sense. Sure, you can point out that there are veterans in the room here to win, but Justin Jefferson’s comments after the 22-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons show that they aren’t worried about McCarthy.

“Yeah, it’s a tough game. Every game is not perfect. Every game is not going to be your A-plus game, and it’s okay,” said Jefferson. “That’s his second game, we understand. We’re not expecting J.J. to be perfect. We’re not expecting anyone to be perfect, but we are expecting everybody to do their jobs when called to, even myself. We’ve just got to get back to playing our football, not playing other people’s football.”

Last thing about this point. O’Connell has made regular appearances on The Rich Eisen Show over the years as the Vikings’ head coach. This quote from one year ago says everything about how the Vikings will develop him.

“I believe that organizations fail young quarterbacks before young quarterbacks fail organizations,” said O’Connell in September of 2024 about developing quarterbacks. “And there’s no specific example in my mind that I could give you of a team or a quarterback, just overall 30,000 foot view.”

Benching McCarthy like this would be a massive mistake, and it’s not even worth entertaining. In fact, the question shouldn’t have even been asked.

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