Souhan: Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy is asked to ace an unreasonable test

As J.J. McCarthy begins his first training camp as the starting quarterback for the Vikings, as he becomes the most scrutinized human in Minnesota for the foreseeable future, let’s acknowledge that what we and his team are asking of him is ridiculous.

We, and they, are asking him to become one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the world.

But not just that.

We, and they, are asking him to become one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the world before he turns 25.

But not just that.

We, and they, are asking him to lead the Vikings to their first Super Bowl championship, even though the Vikings have failed to win one of the first 59 Super Bowls.

But not just that.

We, and they, expect him, at age 22, to display impeccable leadership, mental and physical toughness, and adaptability at an age when some of us were still trying to figure out how to function as responsible adults even while being allowed to drink beer.

All discernible signs indicate that McCarthy is a quality quarterback, athlete and teammate.

But what we, and the Vikings, expect of him is to become one of the 10 best in the world at one of the world’s most difficult jobs.

Because if you’re not in the top 10 or 12 in the world at this job, your bosses will look for your replacement, as Kirk Cousins discovered last year.

ESPN recently released its ranking of top NFL quarterbacks.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts is 26 years old. He has won one Super Bowl and would have won a second if not for astoundingly clutch play by the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes. Hurts is one of the best running quarterbacks in NFL history.

He was ranked No. 9.

Of the nine quarterbacks who received votes but ranked below Hurts, only one has won a Super Bowl — Aaron Rodgers, who is 41 years old and won the title 14 years ago.

We, and the Vikings, are asking McCarthy to be better than Sam Darnold, who won 14 games last season; and Cousins, who won 13 games in his first year under Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell; and every Vikings quarterback who ever took a snap.

Even Fran Tarkenton, because, as you may know, he never won a Super Bowl.

Such expectations for McCarthy might be unrealistic and are certainly unfair, but this is the challenge the Vikings created for him when they traded up to get him in the draft so he could replace Cousins, and this is the challenge he will have to accept if he’s going to be great.

We’ll know much more about McCarthy a year from now. Based on what we know now, let’s set reasonable parameters for our 2025 expectations.

Let’s not expect him to be Jayden Daniels. Daniels was obviously the best quarterback in a quarterback-rich draft in 2024, and he played like the best rookie quarterback all season, elevating an entire downtrodden franchise in the Washington Commanders.

Let’s hope he’s not the Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams, who as a rookie looked like he would rather be spectacular than reliable.

Here are the quarterbacks I think McCarthy can reasonably be expected to emulate:

The Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford and the Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud.

McCarthy is, like Stafford, a quality athlete with arm talent, and he will be playing in that Rams offense, for the coach (O’Connell) who was offensive coordinator when Stafford won a Super Bowl.

McCarthy, having spent a year watching O’Connell’s offense, and having a superstar wide receiver in Justin Jefferson, should surpass that touchdown total. If he can also limit himself to single-digit interceptions, the Vikings will be quite happy with their quarterback succession plan.