Souhan: Minnesota Vikings picked a good year to not need to pick a quarterback

The Vikings picked a good time to pick a quarterback.

Which meant, Thursday night, that they picked a good time to not need a quarterback.

In the first round of the NFL draft, the Tennessee Titans used the first overall pick to select Miami’s Cam Ward, the only true blue-chip quarterback in this draft.

Had the Vikings entered the 2025 draft needing or wanting to draft a franchise quarterback, they either would have had to trade a ridiculous package of current and future draft picks to the Titans — who might not have been willing to even listen to an offer — or hope that one of the lesser quarterback prospects could develop into a star.

The Vikings could have wound up drafting someone like Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart, who are more intriguing than exciting.

Instead, the Vikings didn’t need to reach and were able to take Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson to protect their quarterback of the present and future, J.J. McCarthy.

The Vikings watched the Lions climb to the top of the division and the Eagles to the top of the league while operating behind powerhouse offensive lines. Now the Vikings might have one.

“This group has a chance to be one of the better O-lines in football,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said.

Assuming McCarthy plays well and that consensus evaluations of the 2025 crop of quarterbacks are accurate, the Vikings pulled off a magic trick over the past 13 months.

The Vikings were facing the prospect of paying an aging, injured Kirk Cousins a massive amount of money, knowing that he had never played in a conference title game. Instead, they tried to hide their relief when Cousins signed with the Atlanta Falcons for four years and $180 million.

Then they made two dramatic moves. One would be revealed as dramatic in retrospect; the other could wind up being the most dramatic and meaningful move they’ve made in years.

The first: They signed Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million contract. He would prove a bargain, leading them to 14 victories.

The second: They traded up one spot in the 2024 draft to select McCarthy, who will be their starter in 2025.

Today, each move looks logical. At the time, each was fraught with risk.

Cousins played exceptionally well in 2022, leading the Vikings to 13 victories. He played exceptionally well before his injury in 2024, elevating the team’s play even when Justin Jefferson was injured.

In 2024, Cousins did not look fully recovered from his Achilles injury, and he was benched in Atlanta after the Falcons decided to draft his successor, Michael Penix.

That 2024 was a disaster for Cousins means that 2024 was a victory for the Vikings’ brain trust.

Darnold made himself a second-tier MVP candidate before two collapses in January.

As with Cousins, the Vikings avoided sentimentality and complacency and ditched a starter capable of taking them to the playoffs in favor of their next quarterback plan.

McCarthy is the embodiment of that plan.

If the Vikings’ evaluation of McCarthy is accurate, and he can be the starting quarterback of a powerhouse team, this will be something new for the franchise and O’Connell.

The Vikings haven’t drafted, developed and enjoyed sustained success with a quarterback since … Fran Tarkenton?

They chose him with the 29th pick in the draft, and he took them to three Super Bowls.

If you grade on a curve, you could include Daunte Culpepper. The Vikings chose him in the first round in 1999. He had one winning season (2000) and one spectacular statistical season (2004) before a knee injury and his feud with new Vikings coach Brad Childress led to him playing, sporadically and poorly, for four teams in his last five seasons.

O’Connell has coached Cousins, Darnold, and a few overmatched backups in his three years with the Vikings.

Cousins and Darnold won more games than they had won anywhere else while playing for O’Connell.

McCarthy has a chance to outperform both, while O’Connell gets the chance to develop a quarterback from scratch.

“Offensive lines are team-lifters,” Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said.

And McCarthy protectors.