Darnold will open as Vikings' QB1 in camp, but J.J. McCarthy will see plenty of reps

Kevin O'Connell sets the stage for the Vikings' training camp quarterback competition.

Rookie QB J.J. McCarthy (9) at Vikings minicamp talking with QB coach Josh McCown / Andy Kenutis/Minnesota Vikings

Veteran Sam Darnold will open training camp as the Vikings' No. 1 quarterback, head coach Kevin O'Connell confirmed on Monday, but rookie J.J. McCarthy will see plenty of action as well — including the possibility of some work with the first-team offense. O'Connell wants to allow a competition to unfold.

"I have no preconceived, preset depth chart in my mind beyond, I believe I said at the end of spring, Sam was the number one quarterback," O'Connell said in his pre-camp press conference. "Sam had a great spring. J.J. came in here after being drafted and had a really productive spring as well. So, my message to those guys is I want a really competitive situation. Sam will be taking the majority of his reps with that first group, but I think you'll see J.J. maybe get some as well. But also, it's about the quality as much as the volume of those reps throughout camp."

The Vikings have lots of time before they have to set their depth chart at quarterback or any other position. How things shake out between Darnold, McCarthy, Nick Mullens, and Jaren Hall will be determined by how they perform in practices and preseason games over the next month and change.

Darnold is definitely the favorite to open the regular season as the Vikings' starting quarterback. It's been made very clear that the team has a specific development plan for McCarthy that they aren't going to stray from. ESPN's Kevin Seifert reported recently that O'Connell was "scarred by Washington's botched development" of late QB Dwayne Haskins during his time there. They're not going to risk exposing McCarthy before he's ready.

On Monday, O'Connell and GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah were asked about the possibility of feeling pressured to make a change if things are going poorly this season. The Vikings have a projected win total of just 6.5 in what is year three of four-year contracts for both leaders of this regime. They reiterated that the team is going to stick to its plan for McCarthy moving forward, regardless of what happens. They know they can't put their own futures above his.

"Our decision to bring J.J. here was all out of the belief that we feel that we can put together a plan that helps him become the best player and best quarterback that hopefully he can become," O'Connell said. "I don't know if it's the former quarterback in me, but I will not allow any factors outside of what's best for J.J. and what's best to help the Minnesota Vikings win."

"When we get hired to do these jobs, they ask us to do them in a certain way, at a certain level," Adofo-Mensah said. "They ask us to try and win championships, and that's the question Kevin and I always ask ourselves, are we setting the team up to do that? It's not, 'Can we win a championship with you as the GM?' Obviously that would be nice, but our sole focus is that, otherwise we wouldn't be genuine or truthful to the team that we oversee or the people in this. ... I've talked a lot about minimizing regret in the past. I'm never going to sit on the couch when it's all said and done, good or bad, and regret doing the right thing by J.J., doing the right thing by this team, even if it comes with consequences."

McCarthy should be expected to open up camp primarily working with the second and third-team groups on offense. Based on how he performs, he'll have an opportunity to work his way up the depth chart over the course of camp. It's unlikely, but it's not out of the question that he could surpass Darnold as QB1 by the time Week 1 rolls around. If that happens, it'll be because he had an incredible camp. If it doesn't happen, that won't dull the hype around his long-term potential — as long as he shows some flashes and growth over the next month.

It all begins on Wednesday.

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