JJ McCarthy suffers the ultimate humiliation as he plummets from Vikings’ starter to third string
Not only did JJ McCarthy lose the Minnesota Vikings quarterback battle to starter Kyler Murray this offseason but he has also failed to nail down the second-string position.
McCarthy, who was selected by the Vikings with the No 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, has been listed as Minnesota’s third-stringer ahead of the 2026 season kicking off this week.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell announced today that Carson Wentz will be the No. 2 quarterback in Sunday’s regular-season opener against the Green Bay Packers.
‘I’m looking at that right now as a week-to-week thing, and Carson has almost 100 career starts,’ O’Connell said.
‘J.J. is still going to get a bunch of great work. . . . This gives us the best chance to win this Sunday.’
The Vikings officially named Murray the Week 1 starter for the 2026 season after training camp last month, relegating last year’s starter McCarthy to the bench.
JJ McCarthy has been demoted to the Minnesota Vikings’ third-string quarterback
The third-year signal caller los the offseason battle for the starting role last month
Kyler Murray will be the team’s starter while Carson Wentz will serve as backup on Sunday
McCarthy was drafted by the Vikings in 2024 with the tenth overall pick in that year’s draft.
He arrived in Minnesota after winning a national championship with Michigan, albeit in a year where he never truly put up the numbers to justify such a high draft spot. But NFL scouts were sold on his potential and the Vikings traded up to take him.
However, he missed his entire rookie season due to an injury. In his first season of playing (his second season in the league), McCarthy started just ten games and threw more interceptions (12) than touchdowns (11).
Despite now failing to have even beaten out Wentz for the backup quarterback position, O’Connell had remained positive on McCarthy’s future last month.
The coach wasn’t ready to completely call the McCarthy Experiment a failure: ‘He’s a young player with a bunch of outstanding things in his future,’ the coach said. ‘The immediate result wasn’t what he wanted, but he’s going to be ready to go and improve.’
His inconsistent play and ankle injury suffered in the team’s second preseason game opened the door for Wentz to assume the backup position.
Wentz started five games last season. He posted a 65.1 percent completion percentage and averaged 243.2 yards per game with six touchdowns and five interceptions.
Meanwhile, Murray signed with the Vikings during the offseason after being released by the Arizona Cardinals, putting pen to paper on a one-year deal worth $1.3 million.
Murray agreed a minimum deal with the Vikings – while Arizona paid him $35.5 million – with the hope of becoming their starting quarterback.
