J.J. McCarthy NFL Debut: How Kevin O’Connell Plans to Develop His Franchise QB

The last time J.J. McCarthy took a snap that mattered, he dropped to a knee on the NRG Stadium turf in Houston, flipped the ball into the air and started hugging linemen from the other team while the rest of the Michigan Wolverines also began celebrating their 34-13 whipping of Washington and the school’s first national championship since 1997.

That was exactly 20 months ago — Jan. 8, 2024.

A lot has changed since then, including this fun fact: McCarthy, 22, and his high school sweetheart/fiancée, Katya Kuropas, are expecting their first child this month.

So we know the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft can be a dad. How long before we know whether he can be a dude?

After missing last season due to two surgeries to repair torn meniscus cartilage in his right knee, McCarthy finally takes his first NFL snap that counts on Monday night when the Minnesota Vikings visit the Chicago Bears, his boyhood favorite. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune recently shared a photo of a 4-year-old McCarthy, wearing a backward cap and a Brian Urlacher replica jersey, attending his first NFL game at Soldier Field: Vikings 34, Bears 31.

Will McCarthy be an instant success? The public has virtually no pro photographic evidence.

Last year, the suburban Chicago native played six drives in the Vikings’ first exhibition game and hit 11 of 17 passes for 188 yards, two scores and one interception against the Las Vegas Raiders. Four days later, he was undergoing season-ending surgery.

This fall, he played the first series of the Vikes’ first exhibition game. Seven throws. Four completions. One successful scramble to convert a fourth down. That’s all we got to see — and that’s apparently all he needed.

Because, when it comes down to it, Monday’s game isn’t a referendum on McCarthy’s NFL worthiness as much as it is a defining test of head coach Kevin O’Connell’s ability to judge, teach and mold a quarterback.

During the 2024 draft, the Vikings sacrificed fourth- and fifth-round picks (while getting back a seventh) to move up just one spot to grab McCarthy. They don’t do that without O’Connell’s stamp of approval.

During the offseason, they don’t let Sam Darnold leave via free agency without O’Connell’s consent. During this preseason, O’Connell is the one who elected to limit McCarthy’s live snaps to one possession in one exhibition.

Perhaps most intriguingly, O’Connell is the one who shared strong words in The Athletic’s lengthy story this week entitled: “The bust files: How NFL teams break young quarterbacks”

“In what world do you go from wearing a life vest and learning how to swim to being thrown in the deep end in the middle of a 200-meter freestyle against Michael Phelps?” O’Connell told The Athletic’s Zak Keefer. “We decide in this league very quickly whether a guy can or can’t play quarterback like it’s a simple yes or no: This is the guy or this isn’t the guy; let’s either have a parade in the streets or let’s move on and try and find another one.”

Keefer was inspired to talk with O’Connell after hearing him discuss the topic last year on “The Rich Eisen Show”: “I believe organizations fail young quarterbacks before young quarterbacks fail organizations.”

If nothing else, these words must give McCarthy supreme confidence as he enters the NFL fray. If he’s an immediate success, then fabulous. But if he flounders, he can trust that if O’Connell decides to give veteran backup Carson Wentz a turn, it’s only for McCarthy’s benefit and he’ll get another chance to succeed.

As O’Connell said Wednesday: “He knows he’s definitely not going to be alone out there from a standpoint of the coaching staff and myself right there with him.”