Vikings took unnecessary risk by trading J.J. McCarthy, and Kevin O’Connell has the most to lose

J.J. McCarthy’s mesmerizing fourth quarter on Sunday has reopened the door to criticism for how the Minnesota Vikings handled him before trading him to the New York Giants for a fifth-round pick.

If McCarthy blossoms into a legitimate starting quarterback in New York, what will that say about the Vikings? More specifically, what will it say about Kevin O’Connell and his reputation as the “Quarterback Whisperer”?

O’Connell won 13 games with Kirk Cousins in 2022 and 14 games with Sam Darnold in 2024. Reviving Darnold’s career and keeping the Vikings competitive after Cousins tore his Achilles eight games into the 2023 season helped O’Connell earn that reputation.

That reputation took a hit when the Vikings started 4-8 while cycling through McCarthy, Carson Wentz, and Max Brosmer last season. And the pressure ramped up when O’Connell put Kyler Murray and McCarthy in a QB competition in training camp, only for McCarthy to fall to third on the depth chart.

After wowing with 243 passing yards and nearly rallying the Giants all the way back from a 24-point deficit in the fourth quarter, McCarthy’s stock is rising — and that could be bad news for O’Connell and the Vikings.

“That guy looked good. Sometimes, a change of scenery can be a real positive thing. You can ask Sam Darnold; you can ask Baker Mayfield. And let’s be honest, this kid came in there and ignited the Giants. This guy made plays with his legs; he made some really good throws. He’s just learning the system,” former Super Bowl-winning coach Jon Gruden said Monday on Wakeup Barstool.

What Gruden said next deserves some attention: “Sometimes, when the coach shows confidence in you, and you feel that confidence, it can be a game changer.”

Is John Harbaugh showing more confidence in McCarthy than O’Connell did? That’s impossible to know from the outside, but it’s a question that will only grow louder if McCarthy continues making plays for the Giants.

O’Connell publicly dissected McCarthy’s fundamentals and mechanics last season, but he always supported McCarthy and expressed a belief that McCarthy could become the Vikings’ franchise quarterback. But signing Murray and eventually dropping McCarthy to third on the depth chart sent a much different message.

“I never thought he got a fair shake in Minnesota. He never got a fair shake,” Barstool’s Dave Portnoy said. “He got hurt right away, and then never got back in the flow. I’ve always been a J.J. fan. I saw what he did every single game at Michigan. I said when the Giants got him, they got a winner.”

JJ never got a fair shake in Minnesota and he proved all the haters wrong yesterday pic.twitter.com/1hTBZtzj0C

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) October 19, 2026

Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.