Vikings Preferred Rival Rookie QB Over J.J. McCarthy in Draft, Insider Says

The Minnesota Vikings made J.J. McCarthy their future franchise quarterback, selecting him 10th overall in April’s draft — but had the Atlanta Falcons not blown up the draft board by selecting Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8, the Vikings may have selected the Washington star instead.

SKOR North’s Judd Zulgad reported on July 12 that Penix may have been the preferred quarterback outside the top five picks. The Vikings’ home run swing was to trade up for Drake Maye, who landed with the New England Patriots at No. 3 overall.

“I think their first choice in the list was Drake Maye. I’ve heard rumblings on Penix that the Vikings did love him. They liked his arm, and they liked him more than McCarthy,” Zulgad said, answering a fan mailbag question on the “Purple Daily” podcast.

After the first three quarterbacks came off the board, the Penix pick surprised the NFL after Atlanta had signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal a month earlier.

The Vikings played the draft patiently after there was buzz McCarthy could be selected inside the top five picks. But when Penix came off the board, the Vikings moved quickly to secure McCarthy, trading up one spot to the No. 10 overall pick to avoid another team trading ahead to land the Michigan product.

McCarthy was the fifth quarterback taken the draft and saw his draft stock rise considerably after capping an undefeated national championship season with the Wolverines.

Vikings Confident in J.J. McCarthy

The Vikings may have preferred Penix, but that doesn’t take away that McCarthy rose to become a proven first-round quarterback prospect.

Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah weren’t willing to take just any quarterback. They passed on selecting a quarterback in the 2022 draft despite prospects like Will Levis and Hendon Hooker falling out of the first round.

This year’s draft class was highly favored by the league. The Vikings put two years of scouting into this group of quarterbacks, including McCarthy, who they identified as a potential draft target before he rose to a first-round valuation by many draft analysts.

McCarthy is only 21 years old. While Penix, 24, fits the profile of a pocket passer who O’Connell may have felt comfortable starting Week 1, McCarthy has much more room for development and has the ideal character traits of a prospect who is willing to take O’Connell’s coaching.

“Everything so far, we had hoped to get out of J.J. from the spring confirming a lot of the things we thought about him throughout the pre-draft process. He’s done all those things and then some,” O’Connell said in a June appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show.” “He’s been wearing us out at the facilities, working his tail off, and I think he’s gonna be in a great spot to continue his growth and development.”

J.J. McCarthy Impresses Giants in Hard Knocks Appearance

In footage from HBO’s “Hard Knocks” coverage of the New York Giants‘ offseason McCarthy makes an appearance during the pre-draft process of the NFL offseason.

Head coach Brian Daboll appeared impressed throughout the meeting where McCarthy drew up a play for him on the white board.

Here’s the segment from the show: