The Minnesota Vikings are coming into the 2025 NFL season with a brand new beginning quarterback, their third distinctive starter in as many seasons.
Sam Darnold held it down final yr after Kirk Cousins moved on to the Atlanta Falcons, nevertheless it’s J.J. McCarthy’s time to shine in 2025.
Head Coach Kevin O’Connell and the entrance workplace put a whole lot of religion in him after they used a first-round decide on him in 2024, hoping he’d pan out to be their quarterback of the longer term.
McCarthy wasn’t capable of get any tangible, on-field expertise final yr resulting from his harm within the preseason, however he did have an opportunity to sit down behind a veteran like Sam Darnold and decide up some beneficial recommendation alongside the best way.
Some followers have tempered expectations for 2025 with that in thoughts, however analyst and former QB Dan Orlovsky believes that expectations needs to be excessive for McCarthy, which he famous by way of Darren Wolfson on KSTP.
“It’s completely okay for us to have unrealistically excessive expectations of how he’s going to play on this staff. I actually consider he ought to have production-wise, number-wise, very a lot rival what Sam did final yr,” Orlovsky stated.
“I actually consider he ought to have … production-wise, number-wise…ought to very a lot rival what Sam did final yr…”@danorlovsky7 with @DWolfsonKSTP on Vikings QB JJ McCarthy
pic.twitter.com/xDE1s2oPyJ
— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) September 1, 2025
In Orlovsky’s thoughts, McCarthy already has the expertise of successful a Nationwide Championship on the collegiate stage, and his rookie season of being sidelined shouldn’t be understated.
O’Connell and this teaching workers have been heralded for his or her work with Sam Darnold final yr, and if McCarthy’s expertise is something prefer it was in school, the Vikings’ offense could possibly be in an analogous place to what they had been final season.
It is going to be fascinating to see how this staff fares over the following few months, and McCarthy will get an amazing check to show himself in Week 1 in opposition to the Chicago Bears’ staunch protection.
The publish Dan Orlovsky Reveals His Expectations For J.J. McCarthy appeared first on The Chilly Wire.
