The Vikings are heading into Week 3 with a chance to open 3-0 for the first time since 2024, and just the sixth time since 2000, if they can get past the 0-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Minnesota will also have starting quarterback Kyler Murray back in the mix after he missed Week 2’s win in Chicago following a concussion on the 11th play of the opener against the Green Bay Packers.
Carson Wentz is set to handle QB2 duties, while 2024 first-round pick JJ McCarthy sits as the inactive QB3 in Tampa, available only in an emergency. McCarthy has gone from competing for a starting job in camp to third on the depth chart, and that quiet stretch ended Tuesday when his name popped up in a different kind of conversation.
Veteran NFL reporter Gary Myers suggested the Giants should call Minnesota about McCarthy after news that New York starter Jaxson Dart may be out for the season with a knee injury from Week 2. Myers posted: “If Jaxson Dart is done for the year, I think the @Giants should trade for Vikings third-string QB J.J.
McCarthy. GM Joe Schoen considered him w/6th overall pick in 2024 (they took Malik Nabers).
McCarthy helped Jim Harbaugh win national championship in 2023 and he loves McCarthy. John and Jim often sign players with a history with each other.
Probably would cost only mid-round pick and Giants could run same RPO offense they were using with Dart that is not suited to Jameis Winston. If McCarthy plays well for Giants, can build up his value to trade him after season or supplant Winston as Dart’s backup.
Low-risk move. McCarthy has been huge disappointment in Minnesota but he’s only 23 years old, a few months older than Dart.”
Myers’ pitch also underscored how close McCarthy and Dart are in age, even though their NFL tracks have gone in different directions. McCarthy, drafted No. 10 overall by the Vikings out of Michigan in 2024, has started 10 games and owns a line of 57% completions, 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Dart, drafted a year later at No. 25 overall out of USC, has already logged 16 NFL games and 14 starts, with a 64.9% completion rate, 2,522 passing yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.
The Giants’ interest in McCarthy is not coming out of nowhere. They seriously considered him at No. 6 overall in the 2024 draft before choosing Malik Nabers.
And this wasn’t the first time McCarthy had surfaced as a possible trade fit for New York, either. Late in August, NFL insider Jason La Canfora had mentioned the Giants as a team that could have interest if Minnesota made McCarthy available at a cheap price.
Now, with Dart’s season potentially in jeopardy, the idea of New York circling back on McCarthy looks a lot more realistic than it did a month ago.
In Other News...
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Kevin OConnell has noticed it, too, praising Addisons blocking and the broader impact he is making even without a featured role in the passing game. For a player with his natural receiving talent, the patience and maturity to embrace that job is its own kind of development, and it leaves open an obvious question for the Vikings as the season settles in: how long can that balance hold, and what happens when his opportunities start to grow? [Read more 🡒]
Kevin OConnells Latest Vikings Injury Update Raises A Short-Term Concern
Kevin OConnells latest injury update offered a little of the usual early-week caution, and for the Vikings it centered on the kind of depth issues that can matter quickly if they linger. Defensive tackle Ty Ingram-Dawkins is day-to-day with a hip injury, while punter Brett Thorson is being evaluated for hamstring soreness after the team has tried to sort through his availability.
There was also a brief scare around Aaron Jones, though OConnell said the running back is sore but okay after an increased workload. For a team trying to keep its rotation steady, the next stretch will be worth watching closely, especially if the Vikings need those moving parts to hold up without turning a small concern into a bigger one. [Read more 🡒]