Kevin O'Connell moved J.J. McCarthy to third string on Wednesday, Sept. 9, and said Carson Wentz will be the primary backup behind Kyler Murray for Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers.
The decision matters now because it changes the Vikings' game-day quarterback plan just before the opener, and it gives Wentz the job after O'Connell said he gives the team the best chance to win this week. For McCarthy, the 2024 first-round draft pick, it is another step down the depth chart after he was once viewed as the quarterback of the future.
O'Connell had already settled on Kyler Murray as the starter on Aug. 11, then kept four quarterbacks until the Vikings set their 53-man roster and moved Max Brosmer to the practice squad. That left the team with a direct choice between Wentz and McCarthy for the backup role, and O'Connell leaned on Wentz's experience. He pointed to his almost 100 career starts and said Wentz was able to help in limited work last season by leaning on what he had learned over time, which matters even more early in the year while the staff works to get Murray comfortable.
The move is not being treated as a final verdict. O'Connell called the quarterback arrangement week-to-week, even after pushing McCarthy all the way to third string, and said the young passer still has plenty of football ahead of him. He also noted that the traits that make McCarthy attractive are still there and that the team can change course if it feels he is ready and can function as the one-snap-away option with limited reps.
That leaves McCarthy in a strange place: not cut, not traded, but clearly behind Wentz for the moment. The Vikings could keep that structure beyond Week 1 if Wentz remains the safer choice, or they could lift McCarthy back up if practice and preparation make him the better emergency option. For now, the answer is simpler than the rumor mill around J.J. McCarthy NFL trade rumors — the Vikings have kept him, but they have also made clear he is not first in line.
