The Minnesota Vikings are going to be asked the same question throughout the entire offseason: when will quarterback J.J. McCarthy get his first start?
It's going to be the number one question throughout the offseason and his rookie campaign. The fanbase will want to see McCarthy sooner rather than later, as they have begged for the franchise to truly invest in a young quarterback for years. Is putting him out there early a good idea?
On the latest episode of The Real Forno Show, that was the main topic of discussion and it delved into how the top quarterbacks were handled. Tyler Forness explains how the top quarterbacks ended up seeing the field.
"Patrick Mahomes didn't start his first year. He did start week 17 but I wouldn't count that but that I think that's part of the discussion right? They didn't want him to start all year because they wanted him to learn they wanted him to develop his mechanics because nobody doubted he had talent. The doubts were can figure out how to be an NFL quarterback? Because there were a lot of things that he did at Texas Tech that were like wow this guy's got it but there were some things like okay, can this guy ever figure out how to just do a three-step drop and throw a quick slant? That's what they just didn't know.
"The really smart football people knew how special Mahomes was going to be it's why Andy Reid and John Dorsey made the massive jump up to go get him they knew they knew that if you gave him the right environment you and you could get him to do those things you had somebody special.
"Josh Allen they didn't want him to start injuries injuries got him in the game. Justin Herbert, a punctured lung from an injection by a team doctor on Tyrod Taylor got Justin Herbert in the game. Lamar Jackson got in because Joe Flaco was just God awful not because they wanted him to start they just knew that they had to. And then it depends on who you think the other QB in the top five. I think those are like the consensus top four. I would consider CJ strout a potential top five quarterback especially when we talk about after 2024 so let's just put strout in there stoud won the job he won the job out of camp and if you win the job you just go with it and you don't worry about it.
"I think if those teams had their way Mahomes wouldn't have played, but week 17 everything's already clinched doesn't matter so for my money he didn't start his rookie year
"Justin Herbert, they wanted him to sit injuries force their hand Josh Allen same thing. The Bills probably didn't want Josh Allen to play for like two years because he had so much to learn and look at how much he struggled at times during those first two years. Then, his third year he boomed and be and started to really become the Josh Allen that we know yeah you're going to get some of that Brett Favre and where he makes just these bozo throws but he's so special and he can do so many unique things that you just live with it."
All but one of the top quarterbacks were set to sit during their rookie seasons with the exception being C.J. Stroud. How does it relate to McCarthy?
"McCarthy's going to tell you when he should start. He's not going going to tell you by being like 'coach I'm ready.' Like, the Vikings released a video kind of detailing the whole draft process and McCarthy said in the first meeting at the combine 'coach I'd run through a brick wall for you.'
Yeah that's a guy that you want on your on your roster and playing for you. But that doesn't mean he's ready. Anybody in the league will tell you yeah I'm ready to go I'm ready. There's ego with it and everybody has an ego, everybody listening and watching the show has an ego. Some just have an ego where it's a problem, some have an ego where it's not, some have an ego where it's basically non-existent and I think those like football players have enough of an ego where they're not going to tell you 'you know what I should sit.' No, coaches don't want that kind of mentality they want a guy who wants to be out there somebody's going to tell you that they should sit like that's that's just not how it works. So how McCarthy handles things will tell you should he play or should he not."
It's all about how McCarthy handles things with his actions and not due to what he says. When will that happen? Only time will tell.