Newsstand: J.J. McCarthy's spot on Vikings first depth chart revealed
Former Michigan Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy is working to grab the starting job with the Minnesota Vikings months after being selected No. 10 overall. Over the weekend, he had a handful of first-team reps that could point to some forward progress.
Sam Darnold is expected to start for the Vikings right off the bat, but the first-team reps could be an indication of steps forward. However, Minnesota maintains that the opportunity is still a work in progress.
“I definitely don’t want to be in a world where anybody shows up to this building every day thinking they’ve got a ceiling, you know, a time stamp on them of what the expectations are,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said over the weekend. “The expectations are to come in here, and, you know, be on a daily mission to be the best version of JJ McCarthy, of Sam Darnold, of Aaron Jones, of Justin Jefferson. And that’s the challenge that I think we’ve gotten these players to really understand.”
On Tuesday morning, the Vikings released their first depth chart of the preseason with Darnold listed as the starter with McCarthy and Nick Mullens listed as in contention for the backup job.
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Last season at Michigan, McCarthy was named first-team All-Big Ten and became Michigan’s first-ever winner of the Griese-Brees Big Ten Quarterback of the Year award this season. He completed 240 of his 332 passes (72.2 percent) for 2,991 yards and 22 touchdowns with 4 interceptions. He added 64 rushes for 202 yards and 3 scores.
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“[The interest meant] a lot just because early on I knew that he was a really good coach on day one. The first time we played him, I knew it was a different feel playing against him. His sets are kind of different. We were just so confused and just playing against him. Getting that blessing from him, knowing that he believed in me and my game so much, it meant a lot to me. The first time we played him vividly I remember running into a screen from Vlad [Goldin] and feeling like my shoulder popping out of place. I remember just chasing people all around the court. It’s just a whole different feeling against Coach May.”
– Michigan guard Rubin Jones on interest in joining the program by Dusty May in the transfer portal
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