The Minnesota Vikings are heading into Week 3 with a chance to open 3-0 for the first time since 2024, and only the sixth time since 2000, if they can knock off the 0-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
They’ll have Kyler Murray back in the lineup after the 29-year-old first-year Viking missed Week 2’s win in Chicago. Murray was concussed on the 11th play of Minnesota’s opener against the Green Bay Packers.
Behind him, Carson Wentz will serve as QB2, with the 33-year-old NDSU alum stepping in after Murray went down. JJ McCarthy, the 2024 first-round pick, will be inactive as QB3 and only available in an emergency in Tampa.
That kind of depth-chart slide has kept McCarthy out of the spotlight lately, but the conversation around him picked up again on Tuesday for a very different reason. Veteran NFL reporter Gary Myers suggested the New York Giants should call the Vikings and explore a trade for McCarthy after news that their starter, Jaxson Dart, may be lost for the season with a knee injury suffered in Week 2.
“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’ point about age lines up with the numbers. Dart is only a few months younger than McCarthy, even though Dart went No. 25 overall in 2025 after McCarthy was taken No. 10 overall by Minnesota in 2024.
Their NFL tracks have gone in very different directions. McCarthy has started just 10 games and has completed 57% of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. A knee injury in his rookie year wiped out that season and, as the source notes, clearly slowed his development.
Dart, meanwhile, has already logged 16 NFL games and 14 starts. He’s completed 64.9% of his passes and has thrown for 2,522 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.
The Giants’ interest in McCarthy is hardly new. They reportedly considered him seriously during the 2024 draft before choosing Malik Nabers at No. 6 overall.
And this wasn’t even the first time this summer they came up as a possible landing spot. In late August, Jason La Canfora had already mentioned New York as a team that could have interest in trade talks for McCarthy if Minnesota made him available at the right price.
With Dart’s status now in doubt, the idea of the Giants revisiting that conversation suddenly looks a lot more real than it did a month ago.
In Other News...
Ohio States NFL Pipeline Put On Another Show In Week Two
Ohio States NFL pipeline kept rolling in Week Two, with a familiar mix of Buckeyes making noise in key spots around the league. Jaxon Smith-Njigba was the headliner for Seattle, piling up nine catches for 155 yards and three touchdowns, while TreVeyon Henderson gave New England a jolt with a 39-yard touchdown run in his first game of the season.
Chris Olave was part of the same productive wave in New Orleans, where his chemistry with quarterback Tyler Shough stood out as he ranked among the leagues top receivers. For Ohio State, it was another reminder that the schools pro footprint is not just deep, it is still producing game-changing stretches every week. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States Playoff Picture Could Shift Fast With These Week 4 Games
A busy Week 4 could shake up the College Football Playoff conversation quickly, and Ohio State is watching the ripple effects as much as anyone. The schedule is dotted with games involving the kinds of teams that tend to populate the bracket discussion by November, from Tennessee and Texas to Ole Miss, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Texas A&M and LSU, and each result carries some weight in how the national picture starts to settle.
For the Buckeyes, the value is not just in what happens on their own path, but in how these other contenders are judged when the first real sorting begins. A win here or a stumble there can alter the margin for error, change how victories are viewed down the line and nudge one team up while pushing another into a tougher spot, which is why this stretch feels a little bigger than a normal September slate. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States Next Wave Is Starting To Show Up Early
Ohio State has reached the end of its nonconference slate and turns now to Big Ten play against Illinois, but the early part of the season has already offered a few encouraging signs about the next group coming up behind the veterans. Through the first three games, five players in particular have started to make themselves part of the conversation, showing up in different spots on both sides of the ball and giving the Buckeyes a better sense of their depth as the schedule tightens.
Jay Timmons, Jason Moore, JaKobi Jackson, Riley Pettijohn and Khary Wilder have each flashed in ways that line up with the preseason buzz around them, whether it has been through steady defensive work, quick development or snaps that suggest bigger roles could be ahead. The challenge now is whether that early promise can carry from September into the heart of conference season, where every mistake gets magnified and every new contributor has to prove the first impression was only the start. [Read more 🡒]