Quarterbacks
J.J. McCarthy
Sam Howell
Brett Rypien
Max Brosmer
The J.J. McCarthy era! I’ve been waiting for this era for what feels like a lifetime. Since Fran Tarkenton? Perhaps. Over the years since Tarkenton retired (1978), the Vikings have selected several hopeful heirs in the first round:
Tommy Kramer
Daunte Culpepper
Teddy Bridgewater
J.J. McCarthy
I intentionally excluded Christian Ponder. He was a tremendous reach in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. His prospects of becoming the “one” were never hopeful. Injuries repeatedly took Tommy Kramer off the field. When he was on the field, he was a lot of fun. A true gunslinger, Kramer’s career was perhaps the greatest “what if” in franchise history. Daunte Culpepper was great until a knee injury in 2005 essentially ended his career. Same thing with Teddy Bridgewater. He was about to take off in 2016 but a brutal training camp knee injury ended things before they started. The Vikings have a frustrating injury history that must end now. Hopefully, the one and only injury for J.J. McCarthy is the one that wiped out his rookie season.
With that sad quarterback history out of the way, it’s all about the J.J. McCarthy era. He has a history of winning at every level he’s played. The NFL is just the next one. He’s a talented quarterback. He’s a fun quarterback. The thing that feels so right about him leading the Vikings to where they’ve never been are his intangibles. He’s a winner. He’s a leader. People rally around him. This is going to be fun.
The Vikings needed an experienced backup quarterback. About the only thing that didn’t go their way in free agency was their plan at backup quarterback. Daniel Jones was supposed to be re-signed. He’d spent about a month with the team at the end of the season. It was supposed to continue. The Indianapolis Colts wrecked that plan when they were able to offer him a legitimate opportunity to start. The Vikings couldn’t offer that. It was disappointing but it was an easy decision for Jones.
Now what? There were a lot of stupid rumors out there. Aaron Rodgers was never a realistic option as he was certain to destroy all of the great things that the Vikings decision-makers had built with this team. All of the possible backup quarterback options were old guys like Joe Flacco, Ryan Tannehill, and Carson Wentz. Kevin O’Connell, Josh McCown, and Charlie Frye felt like better options. Trading a fifth-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for Sam Howell was an excellent solution. Seeing as he’s still on his rookie deal, he also comes cheap. Howell has only one season of starting. There was some good and bad in that one season. The good was that he showed over consecutive weeks that he could compete in the NFL. The bad was that he threw a bunch of interceptions and got sacked a bunch. He was on a fairly terrible Washington team and he’s a gunslinger. That’s not a very good combination for ball security. An outstanding coaching staff and a talented group of playmakers will help Howell eliminate some of the mistakes seen in Washington. Of course, the hope is that he never takes a significant snap for the Vikings.
Brett Rypien and Max Brosmer will compete for QB#3.
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