Vikings have J.J. McCarthy tied for second on QB depth chart beneath Sam Darnold

Rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy isn't only player listed as second on Minnesota Vikings' depth chart at QB

EAGAN, MINNESOTA - JUNE 04: Quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy #9, Sam Darnold #14 and Nick Mullens #12 of the Minnesota Vikings watch the drill during Minnesota Vikings mandatory minicamp at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center on June 04, 2024 in Eagan, Minnesota. / (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

Teams around the NFL have begun releasing their unofficial depth charts ahead of this weekend's preseason games, the first of the year not counting the Hall of Fame game last week. For the Minnesota Vikings, their depth chart includes a couple of interesting bullet points at the quarterback position.

For one thing, Sam Darnold is listed as their starter. That's pretty far from an ideal situation and it could be argued that no team is taking a bigger step back at QB this year than Minnesota going from Kirk Cousins to this state of affairs. While it's always possible Darnold will have some late-blooming development, thus far in his career he's been one of the league's worst starters since getting drafted.

The numbers speak for themselves. So far Darnold has gone 21-35 as a starter, completed less than 60% of his passes, averaged just 6.7 yards per attempt and thrown 63 touchdowns to go with 56 interceptions, to say nothing of 38 fumbles. His passer rating is only 78.3 and you don't even want to know what his QBR is.

After Darnold there's a tie for the number two spot on the QB depth chart. The Vikings have both rookie J.J. McCarthy and veteran Nick Mullens in that slot. Observe.

Vikings offensive depth chart / Vikings

That neither McCarthy nor Mullens can pass Darnold isn't a great sign for the Vikings' long-term prospects at this position. At least McCarthy has plenty of time to catch up, and there have been at least a few flashes of genuine ability at training camp, such as this throw he made on the run.

J.J. McCarthy 👀 pic.twitter.com/agN2DWHoPH

— vikesinsider (@vikesinsider) August 3, 2024

Every NFL player flashes from time to time, though - otherwise they would have never made it to this level in the first place. The Vikings will need to see more, and hopefully sooner rather than later because odds are they won't like what they get from Darnold, no matter how sharp he may supposedly look at camp.

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