J.J. McCarthy's season-ending injury is a setback, but Vikings might find upside

Thor’s storm clouds gathered Tuesday. The hammer fell Wednesday, when the Minnesota Vikings learned J.J. McCarthy was out for 2024 after the quarterback’s surgery revealed his meniscus injury required a season-ending repair.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell admitted he was “crushed” while revealing the development before practice.

Skol, Vikes fans. Now pour the mead.

But don’t despair just yet. The darkest clouds have the brightest linings, and – unfortunate a turn as this is for the team’s prized rookie – the setback might ultimately pay handsome dividends.

The book on McCarthy coming off a national championship season at the University of Michigan is that he’s a winner, going 27-1 during his time as the starter for the Wolverines, and one with off-the-charts intangibles, underrated athleticism, familiarity with pro-style concepts and a knack for making big plays in high-leverage moments.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

“This guy is so motivated and so dialed in,” O’Connell said of McCarthy, the 10th pick of the draft, on Wednesday. "He’s confirmed everything that I hoped to see.

“We’ve got our young franchise quarterback in the building.”

Yet he (still) doesn't have the experience of 2024 draft companions like Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Michael Penix Jr. or Bo Nix and, for the last two seasons, has been a cog in a Michigan machine that sent 18 players to this year’s scouting combine – the most in at least two decades. Any notion he’d be ready to parachute in and replace the production of departed Kirk Cousins would likely be foolhardy, and the Vikings knew it.

Though there’s no one-size-fits-all way to roll out an NFL quarterback’s career, a redshirt season – medical or otherwise – is often the optimal route. Just ask Aaron Rodgers. Or Carson Palmer. Or Philip Rivers. Heck, ask Cousins. As impressive as McCarthy mostly looked in last Saturday’s win against the Las Vegas Raiders, passing for 188 yards and a pair of touchdowns after replacing journeyman starter Sam Darnold, it was preseason. The 10th pick of this year's draft wasn’t going to see vanilla schemes or receivers typically running free – at least those not named Justin Jefferson – when the real games started. And such a performance, when coupled with McCarthy’s winning aura, might have only jacked up the pressure on the Vikings to play him prematurely during the regular season, a fate that’s befallen – and derailed – many a first-round quarterback.

Just ask … Darnold.

Though he does have a proclivity to get careless with the ball, Darnold's estimable talent has rarely come into question. His circumstances typically have. The third overall pick by the New York Jets in the 2018 draft, he left USC with far fewer questions about his potential or ability to lead a franchise than McCarthy did. But Darnold was victimized by outsized expectations, a poor supporting cast, deficient coaching and consistent cultural chaos. In Minnesota, McCarthy only had to handle expectations – and they sloughed off Darnold, now with his fourth team, years ago.

Yet while McCarthy can now capitalize on the opportunity to watch, learn and ask as many questions as he wants without feeling like he's cramming for a test, it’s Darnold who can fully enjoy the assets he’s rarely enjoyed during his career – topflight coaching in the QB1 role; a weapon like Jefferson plus complementary ones such as wideout Jordan Addison (though he got banged up in Wednesday's practice), tight end T.J. Hockenson and tailback Aaron Jones; and a solid offensive line. Maybe even more beneficial, few expect this club, reigning NFC North champions a year ago, to be a factor in a loaded division … despite being one deep into last season, even after Cousins’ season-ending Achilles tear in Week 8.

One of three teams to use at least four starting QBs in 2023, Minnesota survived for an extended period with Joshua Dobbs, Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall, the latter two still on the roster. O’Connell and GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah thought Darnold, who consistently earned rave reviews from San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan while backing up Brock Purdy last season, was enough of an upgrade to give him $10 million (most of it guaranteed) for this season, high-end compensation for someone presumably in an intermediary role.

So this is almost certainly who the Vikings will be. Darnold has been the presumed Week 1 starter for the entire offseason. Maybe Adofo-Mensah adds another camp arm, but don’t expect a beacon to go up for available veterans like Ryan Tannehill or Blaine Gabbert or Trevor Siemian. Any kind of noteworthy trade seems even more farfetched.

“Our football team has been and will continue to be excited about Sam Darnold and what he’s been able to bring,” said O’Connell.

And that might be more wins than expected from a player, especially one who surely knows this is his best – and probably final – shot to prove he’s bona fide starter in the league, much as 2018 draft mate Baker Mayfield did with the NFC South champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season.

McCarthy might be gone for now, but his absence should bring crystalline waters that could have easily been muddied whenever Darnold inevitably intersected with the first sign of trouble.

“We’re ready to withstand and persevere and overcome,” said O’Connell.

The 2024 Vikings might have already hit rough seas. But let’s not burn the longships just yet.

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.