Minnesota Vikings despair as rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy is ruled out for the entire season will miss the entire 2024 season through injury.Having been selected with the 10th overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, McCarthy was expected to take the starting spot vacated by Kirk Cousins.Vikings fans have longed for a higher tier player under center, with Cousins deemed not able to win playoff games when it matters.Whilst the Vikes roster isn’t as stacked as the one they boasted a few short years ago, there were high hopes for a campaign where a promising rookie would be given the chance to lead the team.This has now been taken away from him with the Minnesota franchise confirming the news on Wednesday afternoon during coach Kevin O’Connell’s press conference.”An update on J.J. McCarthy, he did undergo surgery this morning on his meniscus, it was a successful procedure but it did reveal that a repair was necessary, which will end J.J.’s 2024 season,” O’Connell declared.Who will the Minnesota Vikings turn to at quarterback?With McCarthy now unable to play throughout the entire season, the Minnesota Vikings will have to pivot and change their plans for the campaign.First on the agenda will be identifying a new starting QB, and that is likely to be former New York Jets starter, Sam Darnold, who is currently under contract with the Vikings as a backup.Darnold has had his own struggles with accuracy and fitness throughout his career, with the Jets only trading him once they could get their hands on Aaron Rodgers.Seen as a prodigious talent coming through at USC, Darnold has clear talent in his arm, but there are doubts about his ability to process information at the NFL level.It could, though, be a blessing in disguise for Darnold personally, with the Vikes offense perhaps the best he will have had a chance to play with.There was never enough talent in New York, and he barely played with the 49ers, so in having Justin Jefferson as his main target, as well as a stacked O-Line to protect him, Darnold has the best chance to succeed in the NFL that he could hope for, and it is up to him to now take this opportunity.
