The Minnesota Vikings anointed Kyler Murray QB1 last week, demoting J.J. McCarthy to No. 2 on the depth chart. Then, the first preseason game shook out, and McCarthy played poorly – – after an offseason where he was supposed to improve.
With three and a half weeks before the start of the regular season, the Vikings’ decision to put McCarthy at QB2 or QB3 is really the supreme vote on his future.
The Backup Job Means More Than the Depth Chart Suggests
The QB2 on Paper Right Now, but What about Wentz?
Studying Wentz’s career path since 2016 – – the rise and dip, his stats, and NFL destination resume – – he’s a QB2 at this stage of his career, not a QB3. Yet, he re-signed with the Vikings in March as a presumptive QB3 behind Murray and McCarthy.
Then, the first preseason contest transpired last weekend, and Wentz looked much more prepared than McCarthy. If the Vikings have all three quarterbacks on the roster in October, for example, and Murray goes down while the team has a 5-2 record or so, would head coach Kevin O’Connell tab McCarthy or Wentz for QB1 duty? It’s a fair question.
The Vikings face a critical decision: should they prioritize developing their younger quarterback, or designate the backup position to the player who offers the team the best chance of winning in an emergency? Think about it. It’s a pickle. Dill.
QB3 Demotion Could Symbolically Seal McCarthy’s Fate in MIN
From an optics standpoint, a QB3 demotion for McCarthy would be brutal. Minnesota drafted him as the primary QB1 solution in 2024, even saying “no thanks” to Sam Darnold in the 2025 offseason, who, of course, won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks 11 months later.
McCarthy as a QB3 would vindicate draftniks who said he wasn’t very good in the first place.
If the Vikings determine that a 33-year-old journeyman is a more reliable backup than McCarthy, it will be difficult to argue that they still envision McCarthy as their future starter. While a QB3 designation wouldn’t technically end his time in Minnesota, it would symbolically represent a fat setback.
McCarthy said last week after Murray won the starting quarterback post, “Obviously, every competitor wants to play. But moving forward, it’s just about continuing to work hard and just staying ready for when my number’s called.”
His forward motion now involves securing QB2, not QB1.
Perhaps Just a Bad Preseason Game?
There’s also the “just one game” element. Athletes have poor outings every day. Even the best. Who’s to say McCarthy didn’t have an isolated poor showing last Saturday at New York? What happens if he roars back this weekend, slicing and dicing the Baltimore Ravens at U.S. Bank Stadium in Preseason Game No. 2? What if, in the same game, Wentz looks like an idiot?
The NFL moves fluidly, and there’s always a chance McCarthy has a single bad day at the office. That happens.
The Vikings have repeatedly emphasized that McCarthy is still a developmental quarterback, and if he responds well during joint practices and the remaining preseason work, Saturday’s performance could quickly become little more than an anomaly.
The Anthony Richardson Parallel
You know who else is a former 1st-Round pick – – highly coveted in 2023 – – and on deck for a QB3 job in 2026? Anthony Richardson.
Richardson’s injury and inconsistency woes mirror McCarthy’s, so much so that the parallels are too emphatic to ignore. Like the prospect of McCarthy’s having a lackluster game last weekend, there’s also the possibility that he’s just plain bad and not cut out for career-long QB1 work. That’s the current sentiment regarding Richardson. He’s third in line behind Daniel Jones and Riley Leonard in the Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback room.
McCarthy’s circumstances are not identical, but they offer a clear warning: once an organization begins to trust other veteran quarterbacks more, a former 1st-round draft pick’s status provides less protection than is often assumed.
McCarthy must rebound in the final two preseason games and avoid the QB3 relegation.
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VikesNow Verdict: Staying ahead of Wentz preserves the idea that Minnesota still views McCarthy as a developing future starter. Falling to QB3 would send a considerably harsher message about where that belief stands.
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