Vikings coach opens up quarterback competition

The Minnesota Vikings selected J.J. McCarthy out of the University of Michigan in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft. Unfortunately, McCarthy suffered a meniscus injury in his first preseason appearance of 2024 and was forced to sit out all of his rookie season from the sidelines.

Sam Darnold started in McCarthy’s place and, despite a strong showing in Minnesota, elected to sign with the Seattle Seahawks, paving the way for McCarthy to be the starter for the 2025 season.

However, while the Vikings are moving forward with the McCarthy era, things are much less certain behind him.  Sam Howell, Brett Rypien, and Max Brosmer are all on the roster at the moment, and head coach Kevin O’Connell said the three are in open competition to be McCarthy’s backup.

“There’s a reason why we’re playing all three of them. As far as what that means in the overall competition, I think I would just say that it’s still open and we’re trying to figure out what that room is going to look like for the season,” the head coach said, via ESPN’s Kevin Siefert.

Kevin O'Connell on the No. 2 QB job: "There's a reason why we're playing all three of them. As far as what that means in the overall competition, I think I would just say that it's still open and we're trying to figure out what that room is going to look like for the season."

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) August 16, 2025

Fans reacted to the news on social media.

“KOC says a lot without really saying anything,” one fan wrote on Twitter.

“All of camp and 2/3rds of the preseason finished and still no clue who the backup is going to be?” one fan couldn’t believe.

“McCarthy would be good QB2 behind Kirk for a year. Brosmer snags QB3,” someone else added, apparently forgetting that Kirk Cousins is with the Atlanta Falcons now.

It’ll be interesting to see who wins the second spot on the depth chart.