Vikings Dealt Patrick Mahomes Message Over J.J. McCarthy Risk

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell admitted that quarterback J.J. McCarthy is still an unknown commodity coming off meniscus surgery.

"We won't know until we get out on the grass with him," O'Connell told Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer.

After years of toiling in the middle of the league with Kirk Cousins, the Vikings took the risk of moving on from the Pro Bowl quarterback to find more upside from the quarterback position.

They made the same decision with Sam Darnold, parting ways with the veteran quarterback after falling in the wild-card round of the NFC playoffs in January.

But whether the grass is greener with McCarthy remains to be seen.

During an April 15 episode of Fox Sports' "First Things First," analyst Nick Wright applauded the Vikings for taking that risk, likening the decision to the Kansas City Chiefs' pivot off Alex Smith to Patrick Mahomes.

“I am clearly not saying he’s going to be Patrick Mahomes,” Wright said. “What I am saying is, the Kansas City Chiefs won the division every year, won double-digit games, and had a quarterback in Alex Smith that gave them a ceiling.

“They moved up for a quarterback like the Vikings did, he sat a year, like this kid did, and then they got rid of Alex Smith. Differently, they traded him, because they wanted a chance to be great. So I respect trying to go for it, which is what I think the Vikings are doing.”

However, there is a caveat. 

Wright is not confident that McCarthy was worth the No. 10 overall pick, coincidentally the same spot Mahomes was drafted seven years earlier.

"I didn’t understand J.J. McCarthy being a first-round pick. When we were doing the draft last year, I kept making the joke whenever people talk about J.J. McCarthy, they talk about what a great handshake he has and how he looks you in the eye, and it’s not a bunch of football-based things, so I think it is a risk.”

McCarthy becoming the next Mahomes is an unrealistic expectation for the 22-year-old quarterback.

Moreso, the hope in Minnesota is that McCarthy can rise to a high-enough level of play to lead a loaded roster to a deep playoff run as he continues to develop.

While there are questions about McCarthy's ability to do that, O'Connell and the Vikings appear willing to take on that risk -- a similar bet they hit on that turned into 14 wins with Darnold a year ago.