When the Minnesota Vikings announced that they were parting ways with six-year starter Kirk Cousins after the 2023 season, it was clear that they would pursue a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft, eventually trading up to choose J.J. McCarthy at No. 10 overall. Justin Jefferson just gave J.J. McCarthy the nicest gift a quarterback could hope for.
McCarthy had just helped Michigan win its first national title since 1997 by having the best year of his career with the Wolverines, completing a Big Ten-best 72.3 percent of his passes for 2,991 yards with 22 touchdowns and only four interceptions, while adding another 202 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
So, expectations were naturally pretty high. But, of course, everything came crashing down when McCarthy suffered what turned out to be a season-ending meniscus tear in his right knee, at which point Sam Darnold stepped up and took advantage by having the best year of his career in leading Minnesota to a 14-3 record.
With Darnold out of the picture, McCarthy has once again been handed the reins, and he may be under even more pressure now, given what Darnold accomplished last season. But superstar wideout Justin Jefferson has all the faith in the world in his new signal-caller and recently gave his young quarterback a big confidence boost during a recent interview with Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz.
As his teammate and as a captain of the team, just trying to make him dialed in every chance that I can.
Our lockers are right next to each other, so every chance that I get to talk to him about football, about anything that goes on outside of football. Just try to get to know him as much as I can because when the season comes and whenever we’re locked in, I want him to be just as confident as I am of him to make the plays out there.”
That’s undoubtedly the guy you want having your back, so McCarthy has to feel great hearing that.
Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy faces a ton of pressure, but having Justin Jefferson makes his job easier
As mentioned, McCarthy might have even more pressure on him now than he did a year ago at this time.
Obviously, there’s always pressure that comes with being a first-round pick, especially at the quarterback position. And Darnold doing what he did a season ago doesn’t make things any easier.
Darnold, of course, failed to live up to his draft status for years after being taken with the third overall pick in the 2018 draft by the New York Jets, with whom he spent three seasons before a two-year stint with the Carolina Panthers and a one-year run as Brock Purdy’s backup with the San Francisco 49ers.
But he certainly looked like a first-rounder with Minnesota, setting career highs in completion percentage (66.2), passing yards (4,319), touchdown passes (35), and passer rating (102.5), which earned him a three-year, $100.5 million deal this offseason with the Seattle Seahawks.
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