The first three weeks of training camp are over, now it’s time for the preseason. Head coach Antonio Pierce and his Las Vegas Raiders will travel to the Twin Cities to face Kevin O’Connell’s squad. Both organizations have a mysterious QB situation. The visitors are employing veteran Gardner Minshew and sophomore Aidan O’Connell, while the Vikings are deciding between Sam Darnold and rookie JJ McCarthy.

Vikings HC announces starting QB for season opener

Darnold or McCarthy has been the main topic of conversation in Minnesota’s training camp. So far, Darnold is still considered the favorite to start in Week 1, simply based on the assumption that he will take the vast majority of first-team action. He is also listed as QB1 on the team’s first unofficial roster, while McCarthy is tied with Nick Mullens, separated only by the word “or,” as the backup.

There was some speculation that Darnold might sit out Saturday’s preseason game, as O’Connell always plays it safe when it comes to using starters in such preseason games. Kirk Cousins ​​did not play in either year as O’Connell was in charge.

However, Darnold will be on the field and doing some drills, and McCarthy will, too. The head coach was asked about his plan on Thursday.

We plan to use the majority of our players. Sam Darnold will start the game and then JJ McCarthy will play. I’m very excited to see how much work he does and hopefully implement a lot of the things he’s done really well so far.

Kevin O’Connell

O’Connell added that McCarthy “will most likely leave it to Jaren Hall to finish.” He also praised outside hitter Nick Mullens for his professionalism and knowledge of the system and promised that he would continue to get plenty of work throughout training camp. He was the primary quarterback of the third offensive line.

Darnold joined the club after signing a one-year, $10 million deal following Cousins’ departure in March. The former third-round pick hopes to find some stability with a much better supporting cast than his previous stints with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, where he worked in a disappointing environment.

In six seasons (three with the Jets, two with the Panthers and one as a backup with the 49ers), Darnold started 56 games and threw 63 touchdowns and 56 interceptions, failing to live up to the expectations he entered the league with.

In recent days, he has started to build a connection with three-time Pro Bowler Justin Jefferson, who is obviously the key to Minnesota’s offense. The wideout is every quarterback’s best friend, as he can catch bad throws with his absurd catch radius and is always free when he’s in single coverage.

McCarthy doesn’t have nearly as much to do with the franchise player. His most common targets are Jalen Nailor, Trishton Jackson and Jeshaun Jones, not Jefferson and Addison. Still, he’s mostly done well against first- and second-team defenses.

A few live appearances in a real game setting is another step for the 21-year-old, who still has plenty of time to develop into his best version, which is much more important than starting in Week 1. With about a month to go, he could still challenge Darnold for that job, but for now, Darnold is still ahead of him.

It remains to be seen how the workload will be distributed on Saturday. A good guess is that Darnold will play the first quarter (or two drives) and Hall will replace McCarthy in the fourth quarter.

Editor’s Note: This article was helped by information from Pro Football Reference.

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Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and statistics. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their then quarterback Christian Ponder. He is a walking football encyclopedia, enjoys watching sitcoms and prefers classic rock to other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt