The Minnesota Vikings' offseason has revolved around J.J. McCarthy and whether he is ready to take the reins of a team that, a year ago, won 14 games. McCarthy missed his rookie campaign with a prolonged meniscus injury, suffering numerous setbacks in his recovery, which have prevented him from making his NFL debut.
His return to the field this spring turned some heads for all the wrong reasons, with numerous local beat writers citing that McCarthy struggled with processing and accuracy in mini-camp.
But even with some rust to work through, the 22-year-old might have a better chance to succeed than previously anticipated.
In a recent piece, ESPN's Kevin Seifert highlighted how Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell mentored McCarthy throughout his recovery.
"I just wanted to give him a platform with me," O'Connell told ESPN, as Seifert wrote. "Maybe it was football one day. Maybe it was no football. My time is very hard to find during the season, but I just wanted to make sure that we got together. And as I've told him, it doesn't really guarantee you anything, but once you're fighting the fight on a daily basis of growing within the system, he would be able to rely on some of what we did together."
From the moment he took the headset in Minnesota, KOC has maximized the play of his signal-caller.
McCarthy might not have the same raw arm talent as Sam Darnold to tap into, but with his age and physical traits, he has the tools around him to at least immediately be a high-end game manager.
The behind-the-scenes buzz around McCarthy is positive; now it has to translate this summer at a vital training camp.