Is J.J. McCarthy going to replace Sam Darnold as the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback?
With the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback now a free agent following a disappointing end to the campaign, could it be that he’s about to be replaced?
As the autopsy of the Vikings’ season begins, there will undoubtedly be numerous questions about the performance of the team’s quarterback and his performance when everything was on the line. That’s precisely what makes J.J. McCarthy’s social media post all the more curious.
Is J.J. McCarthy going to be the Vikings’ next quarterback?
If there is one thing that’s now clear after the Minnesota Vikings’ 27-9 blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Wild Card Weekend, it’s that the team’s 14-3 record was misleading. To be fair, a major factor in that record was the stellar performance of quarterback Sam Darnold who had a career season, throwing for 4,319 passing yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
Sadly, in the Vikings’ last two games, Darnold was nowhere to be seen. Indeed, during the team’s Week 18 matchup against the Detroit Lions with the NFC’s No. 1 seed on the line, he could only complete 53% of his passes while averaging 5.1 yards per attempt. This is all to say that when it mattered most to the Vikings and their fans, Sam Darnold failed his team.
This brings us back to the present where Darnold, the former No. 3 overall pick is now a free agent. As one can imagine, given what was explained above, there is the real possibility that he just played his last game in a Vikings jersey and even more so when one considers the millions that the loss would have cost him. This in turn brings us to last year’s No. 10 overall pick, J.J. McCarthy.
Following the Vikings’ loss on Monday night, McCarthy posted an eye-catching message on social media: “Amor fati.” To be clear, “Amor fati” is a Latin phrase that means “love of fate” or rather “love of one’s fate.” This of course refers to a state of mind in which one must embrace both the successes and failures in life, seeing them as opportunities to learn along the way. As we know, McCarthy’s first season in the NFL looked set to be bright after he threw touchdowns in preseason, only to tear his right meniscus which ruled him out for the entire year. It was that injury which resulted in Darnold being given the reigns in Minnesota. Ultimately, there has been no official word on what the Vikings will do next, but it’s starting to look like a change is going to come.