Minnesota Vikings GM, head coach explain why franchise picked QB J.J. McCarthy at 10th in the NFL Draft

The Minnesota Vikings traded up to select Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. McCarthy contributed to three Big Ten…

The Minnesota Vikings traded up to select Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.

McCarthy contributed to three Big Ten Championship-winning teams with the Wolverines, including back-to-back titles as the starter in 2022 and 2023. He helped guide U-M to the top of the college football world as a junior, quarterbacking Michigan to a 15-0 record, a Rose Bowl win and the College Football Playoff National Championship. When his name was called Thursday night in Detroit, he became the first U-M quarterback taken in the first round of an NFL Draft since Jim Harbaugh, his former coach, in 1987.

The public reaction varied on the Vikings' decision to pick McCarthy. While supporters label McCarthy as a proven winner with the requisite athleticism, arm strength and intangibles to quarterback an NFL franchise, the most common criticism centers around a perceived lack of high-leverage usage in Michigan's run-first offense.

After making the trade and selecting McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Head Coach Kevin O'Connell spoke with reporters about why they chose the Michigan QB. Here are highlights from their press conference:

GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on the feedback he got about J.J. McCarthy from Jim Harbaugh:

He's his biggest fan, as you know. I know a lot about the relationship has been well documented. Obviously I talked to J.J. about it as well.

The guy knows leadership and he knows passion having been around him. I know what he looks for in a quarterback, and I'm not surprised him and J.J. had such a connection. The positivity that he brings, the culture, all those things. But then from a talent standpoint I remember when he used to talk about how much he loved Colin and different things about his skill-set and why he liked him.

So not a surprise. The conversations we've had were great. We got a lot of great feedback. Sherrone Moore was great with us. He's like, 'That's the guy. Trust me. That's the guy.' A lot of people speak highly of him. You walk in those hallways there, there's not a person that's not a big fan of J.J. McCarthy.

We're really happy with him coming here. He's excited. He's a competitive kid — I know that — and he's looking to prove everybody right, wrong or indifferent.

This story continues below...

GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on pairing a young QB with Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, a former quarterback:

We all started on the conference room table in Los Angeles when we first sat face to face. We talked about these things, not just what we want to do from a culture standpoint, but how do you evaluate quarterbacks? How do you grow a quarterback, how do you develop him?

And those things he talked about are the reason why I have so much faith in him. To take and mold a player like him — which again, I think his talent, his traits are as high end as anybody — and molds him into that player we want him to be.

And I think we talked about a lot here. A lot of times when we go back over history and we say these quarterbacks are missed, there's a lot of hands that are dirty in that regard. So we're going to make sure that our hands are clean and give him the best opportunity and the best players in this offense.

GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on the pre-Draft interview process between the Vikings and J.J. McCarthy:

I use interviews as a chance to get to know people, not really to evaluate them. I think some of the questions I ask or we get, I feel like I know these guys.

… I will tell you about him. I think something I've learned about him: His emotional intelligence is a superpower. I think it's well-documented, the meditation, all the things he does emotionally or whatever. He has a superpower to create really lasting bonds.

We watch him around his teammates. There's a — honestly, I would just describe it as a love. In passing, you see it. Once seeing that, that didn't surprise me. I asked for all of them a question that is reflective of who they are. He talked about love and different things like that.

For him to be that forthcoming and vulnerable, I think it's not surprising at all. It makes him a great leader.

Kevin O’Connell on the pre-Draft time with J.J. McCarthy:

We started at the Combine in the formal interview process and then obviously getting a chance to watch him throw in kind of a competitive setting there at the Combine. And then we did take a trip to Ann Arbor, spent the day with him, entailed pretty extensive meeting room time at their facility there.

And then we got on the field and were able to between a process of really hoping to be on the grass doing some of our things that we emphasize in our offense and being able to teach some of those things in the classroom setting. We were able to obviously watch a lot of his tape with him and fill in some gaps on some of the information.

Even when you've watched a lot of tape of a lot of players over the years, there's still some questions you have as far as the why, the how, the what, the when, and his understanding of their offense and his understanding of the pass game with what they did there at Michigan was outstanding. And then ultimately being able to see him take information directly from me in an install setting and see him take it out to the field was really, really encouraging for what that may mean for his development and the process that now we get to go through together.

I think throughout these last few weeks here, you build relationships with some of these guys and absolutely did so with J.J. I know he wanted really wanted to be a Minnesota Viking.

Hopefully as excited as our fans are, they can know that J.J. McCarthy really wanted to be a Minnesota Viking and he cannot wait to get here and get to work.

Kevin O’Connell on what made J.J. McCarthy the right fit for the Minnesota Vikings:

J.J. was a guy very, very early in the process, obviously coming off of the national championship. Guy has won at every level he's been at.

And then when you really dive into the tape and some of the things that I really look for and really emphasize in my evaluation process, there was a lot to really like about J.J.'s tape.

And that was before he absolutely crushed the process postseason, which is hard to do when you've won a national championship and done some of the things that he did as a college quarterback — to then have a great rest of the process like he did. Attacked it every step of the way, a competitor and a guy that believes very strongly that the best football is out in front of him and he's going to work like crazy to make that happen.

Kevin O’Connell on whether his college usage impacts when J.J. McCarthy will be ready for the NFL:

A lot might have been made of the sample size. And I think sometimes you can get caught up with looking at box scores and looking at total statistics and attempts and all those things.

I really try to, once I've had a full process with digesting his entire season, you really go back through and center your focus on those weighty downs, those third downs where you see him 3rd and 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 at a pretty strong clip move the football team and generate new downs and get them down in the red zone and make some big-time throws to put the ball in the end zone in big, big moments in games when they needed him in some ways to find a way, other ways just to make a throw, other ways to extend a play.

He made a lot of those plays. From a standpoint of how I evaluate quarterbacks, I've continued to learn and evolve and understand that there's information there that you're staring at that sometimes you take different routes to get there, but ultimately, by the time I was able to absorb all the film and really get to know J.J. a little bit more, connect some more dots and understand what we're really projecting with a person and player like J.J. McCarthy, I'm really excited to have him on our football team.

Kevin O’Connell on what the Vikings learned about J.J. McCarthy during the pre-Draft process:

They talk a lot about that culture at Michigan. And they've got a lot of players coming out and guys that are going to be selected over these next couple of days.

And the one thing you hear is how he was a driving force behind a lot of that — and really not only continued to improve himself, but really implored his teammates for that daily improvement as well.

And sounds like some of the best players in our organization currently right now have that kind of trait. Adding J.J. into that mix and allowing him to be excited to be a Minnesota Viking was a really cool part of it.

But ultimately, we selected J.J. because we're really excited about having him in our quarterback room and really grow and develop him and allow him to become that best version of himself.

Not a VIP subscriber to The Michigan Insider? Sign up now and get access to everything TMI has to offer on all things Michigan and access to the No. 1 site covering the Wolverines.

Want the latest news on Michigan delivered right to your email? Subscribe to The Michigan Insider newsletter here. It is free and a great way to get daily updates on Michigan football, basketball, baseball, recruiting, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign up for FREE text alerts on The Michigan Insider to get breaking news on commitments, decommitments, transfers, injuries, coaching changes, and more with our NEW text alert system available to all registered users and VIP subscribers. Click Here to become a FREE registered user and Click Here if you are already a VIP subscriber then follow these directions to set up your text alerts.