Kevin O’Connell praised J.J. McCarthy’s growth but made clear the Vikings want competition at QB this offseason after an inconsistent 2025 season.
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell had a sit-down interview with team play-by-play announcer Paul Allen and analyst Pete Bercich on Wednesday. It didn't take long for the coach to speak about J.J. McCarthy and the team's quarterback plans for the offseason.
O'Connell didn't dismiss McCarthy's chances of being the team's starter in 2026, but he brought up the young quarterback's limited playing time (10 starts through two seasons) several times.
"He's going to have a healthy offseason," O'Connell began when speaking of his 23-year-old quarterback, "which, obviously, with his journey up until this point, he's gotten 10 starts where we've been able to see a lot of the things that we really, really liked about J.J. when we drafted him.
"We've seen some growth," O'Connell continued. "We've seen some of that development, but we're still talking about quite a few opportunities of that development phase and growth phase missed.
"So he knows it's a big offseason for him. He didn't need anybody to tell him that."
O'Connell then said that McCarthy is currently working out with private quarterback coach John Beck in southern California. O'Connell believes that work and just time with the Vikings will help him become more comfortable with the scheme.
"[J.J.'s] continued growth in our offense and in our schemes will be a natural thing," O'Connell explained. "He's a really smart player that I think he's going to be able to use a lot of that experience of those 10 games and the journey so far to get himself in position to have the best 2026 he can."
Still, this doesn't mean O'Connell will hand McCarthy the starting job this offseason. The coach said competition at quarterback should help not only McCarthy but the team.
"We've talked about it. We want him to be in a competitive situation because of some of that time lost," O'Connell continued. "We've really got to push the gas pedal down and not replace development and coaching and teaching with anything, but really enhance it with a really competitive situation that I think our whole team will benefit from."
Later, Allen asked O'Connell about Carson Wentz's play. O'Connell lauded Wentz's ability to step in Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals and lead the Vikings to a 48-10 victory less than a month after signing.
But O'Connell, unprompted, then went on to explain some of the traits that quarterbacks have displayed in his time in Minnesota, shedding light on what the team is seeking in 2026.
"What has helped our offense go throughout our time horizon here has been consistent quarterback play," O'Connell said. "And when I think about that, it's being accurate with the football.
"It's being smart with your decision making with how you run the show to inevitably allow Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, [T.J. Hockenson], and Jalen Nailor, and our group as a whole, to feel like they can then impact the game at a high level. Not only just in the pass game, it's how it all works together in the run phase as well."
McCarthy wasn't accurate enough in 2025. His 57.6% completion percentage was fourth-worst among qualified quarterbacks. No one had a higher interception percentage than his 4.9% rate.
Oftentimes, McCarthy was almost too aggressive in seeking shots downfield, passing up high-percentage completions underneath. In O’Connell’s system, aggressiveness is encouraged, but not at the expense of efficiency.
The Vikings have a lot of work to do this offseason if they want to return to the playoffs in 2026. Quarterback tops the list, and they will almost certainly bring in a veteran option.
It's not that McCarthy has no shot of winning the job. But after listening to O'Connell's comments, the former first-round pick has an uphill battle to climb.