The Minnesota Vikings made a bold decision this past offseason as they gave the starting job to J.J. McCarthy. Moreover, Minnesota allowed Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones to leave as the Vikings plan to usher in the McCarthy era.
However, that decision hasn’t gone as planned for Minnesota. The second-year quarterback has only played in two games before suffering an ankle injury that kept him out for several weeks.
Minnesota cannot foresee injuries happening, but it’s one of the risks that came with deciding that it was time for their first-round pick from 2024 to take over under center. Nonetheless, former NFL linebacker Bart Scott is calling out the Vikings for this decision, which he feels has wasted another year of Justin Jefferson’s prime.
“I think they’re wasting Justin Jefferson’s prime,” Scott said on the October 31 edition of “Get Up.” “Listen, they took a big gamble by going with a first-year starter with all the things that they pushed. They pushed all their chips into the middle of the table when they made all these acquisitions—improving the offensive line, going out and getting defensive line help—and then to put it all in the hands of a rookie QB.
“Nobody came into this season with more pressure than J.J. McCarthy because we know what we got from Sam Darnold. I agree with that. The fact that they let Sam Darnold go, let [Daniel Jones] go, and said, ‘That’s who we’re going to go with,‘ that is more pressure than anybody in the NFL.”
Vikings Continue to Get Criticism Over Justin Jefferson
Scott isn’t alone in saying that the Vikings are wasting Jefferson’s prime with their decision-making at quarterback. Recently, Dan Patrick questioned whether McCarthy, whom the Vikings selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and named their starter this offseason, might fail to develop into the quarterback they envisioned, leading Jefferson to grow frustrated with the situation and possibly want out.
“I think the bigger picture here is the Vikings because J.J. McCarthy hasn’t gotten any updates yet on that high ankle sprain, but he’s been out for six weeks, and Carson Wentz is not the answer,“ Patrick said on the October 24 edition of “The Dan Patrick Show.“ “And this is where you can’t help but think, given that Sam Darnold has played well and [Daniel Jones] is playing well, and Kirk Cousins could have been available to you to come back, and Aaron Rodgers flirted with you.
“He chose a different direction. You chose a different direction, and I know this is hindsight. But this is a situation where you’ve got the best receiver in the game, and I wonder at what point Justin Jefferson says, ‘Get me out of here. ‘ And I think that’s real. He’s got 8,000 career yards, and this is a situation where I feel like they’ve got everything, but they don’t have a quarterback.”
Vikings’ Justin Jefferson Talks J.J. McCarthy’s Return
Despite what the outside says, Jefferson is ready to pick up where he left off with McCarthy. Ahead of the second-year quarterback’s return against the Detroit Lions, the Minnesota wideout spoke with the media on October 30 to discuss what it’s like having the young signal caller back as QB1.
“Looks good,“ Jefferson told reporters. “Just going through the plays, going through the motions, dialing up the connection, and, of course, expanding the relationship that we have out there on the field. So it’s been great. I feel like he has the confidence to go out there and do what we expect him to do.
“It’s just all about having that energy and thinking about one play at a time—not thinking about the big play, making the best play of the game, or being perfect throughout the game. It’s just all about taking one play at a time, leaning on everybody in the offense to go to work, and just lead us. And that’s pretty much the main message to him.”
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