With four quarterbacks going in the top eight, the Minnesota Vikings decided they couldn’t wait any longer.
The Vikings traded up to the No. 10 pick with the New York Jets, moving up one spot to select Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy on Thursday night at the NFL draft.
Minnesota sent the No. 11 pick as well as a fourth-rounder and fifth-rounder to the Jets in exchange for the No. 10 pick and No. 203 pick.
McCarthy was the fifth quarterback selected Thursday night, following Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and Michael Penix Jr.
The Vikings add McCarthy after parting with veteran incumbent Kirk Cousins this offseason and signing Sam Darnold to a one-year deal to serve as a bridge quarterback.
McCarthy’s winning pedigree is one of his top assets. He was 27-1 as a starter at Michigan over the last two seasons, which included the 2023 national championship. The lone loss was in the 2022 College Football Playoff semifinals against TCU, when Michigan scored 45 points and McCarthy totaled three touchdowns.
In high school at Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park, Illinois and then IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, McCarthy was 36-2, which included a state championship.
Having turned 21 in January, McCarthy entered the draft after his junior season at Michigan and is one of the draft’s youngest prospects. He started 28 games over the last two seasons.
Including his freshman season, when he played sparingly, McCarthy finished his college career 482-of-713 for 6,226 yards, with 49 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also rushed 161 times for 632 yards and 10 touchdowns. Two areas that scouts rated McCarthy highly were completion percentage (especially in the clutch) and lack of turnovers (4 interceptions in 2023). But in part because Michigan was so effective running the ball, McCarthy wasn’t always asked to carry the load, which complicated his projection to the NFL for some scouts.
As an example, McCarthy’s 44 touchdown passes over the last two seasons ranked 16th in the FBS. He had four touchdown passes in his last seven games at Michigan. He also had fewer than 200 passing yards in five of his last six games, averaging 143 passing yards per game over that span.
