Kevin O'Connell weighs QB battle between Sam Darnold, J.J. McCarthy

Kevin O’Connell is confident in the quarterback battle between Sam Darnold and first round pick J.J. McCarthy. While the latter is seen as the future of the team and the franchise quarterback, Darnold’s been around the block a bit.

Either way, O’Connell loves competition because it brings the best out of all positions, not just quarterback.

“Yeah, I think we want to create a competitive environment really at all positions,” O’Connell said on Mad Dog Sports Radio. “We really want to do that because I do believe that brings out the best in your entire roster and that’s not just position battles that may go on that side of the football … We want to make it a competitive training camp all the way around. I think we have a good plan in place to do that. 

“At the quarterback position, look, we’re really excited about Sam I had a lot of the same feelings that you did about Sam coming out, really kept a close eye on him throughout his quarterback journey. And not all quarterback journeys are the same, although the position tends to catch a lot of eyes and a lot of different coverage from a standpoint of what a guy is and wins and losses and all those things.”

Darnold was the No. 2 overall pick at one point in time by the New York Jets. While his career’s been a rollercoaster, operating in the Vikings’ offense could help him regardless if he’s the starter or backup.

Whether he has to mentor McCarthy in either situation, O’Connell has a good feeling about the room.

“But you’re right that circumstances and environment, those guys have a lot do with it and play a lot into it,” O’Connell said. “Sam’s had a heck of a quarterback journey and he’s learned a lot along the way and I’m really excited about the time in his career in which we’re getting him in our building. 

“And I feel strongly about his ability to continue his even at this point in his career, continue his development and what can he become within playing quarterback in our offense with the type of players we have around him, knowing that we’re going to have a competitive environment with JJ McCarthy with Nick Mullens and Jarren Hall.”

McCarthy is set up for his success, seeing how the Vikings were lauded as one of the best destinations for the former Michigan quarterback. With weapons all around, McCarthy could succeed right away.

“Our job is to build the best possible environment that we can coach at a really high level, have a really structured plan to where these guys know exactly what the expectations are every day,” O’Connell said. “And then go out and compete. Just go play football and make sure we’re taking the opportunity this spring which we’ve done, for all those guys to really have personal development plans. 

“And really teach at a high level so that they can then report to training camp and know that they can go compete it out every day and we’ll see kind of where the chips fall but I can tell you as far as JJ McCarthy is concerned, you know we have a plan for him.”