Minnesota Vikings rookies and quarterbacks report to training camp next Sunday. All eyes will be on J.J. McCarthy, who is set to start for the first time in his NFL career.

There is intrigue as to whether McCarthy can pick up where Sam Darnold left off in Week 17, which was a Pro Bowl season that carried the Vikings to a 14-2 start before the final two weeks took a turn for the worse.

But McCarthy will have the luxury of throwing to the same weapons Darnold did with an improved offensive line and Kevin O’Connell calling plays. Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report says that these could all help McCarthy dominate in his first season as a starter.

The talent is there, the revamped offensive line should be awesome, and Justin Jefferson is a football god.

To be clear, Gagnon went through all 32 starting quarterbacks and explained why they could all dominate. But McCarthy has a realistic path to instant success, perhaps even stardom if the Vikings can tap into all the traits that made him the 10th pick in the 2024 draft.

This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: Analyst explains why Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy can ‘dominate’ in 2025