When does JJ start?

Simplifying the offense vs. waiting until McCarthy masters it
While last year’s Dobbs Mania turned into a Dobbs-bacle, it shouldn’t be used as evidence about how the Vikings’ offense can be adjusted for a new quarterback. It would have been difficult to swap out an entire scheme in the middle of the year. But it did offer a little insight into the team’s philosophy. O’Connell and offensive coordinator Wes Phillips talked about how the entire scheme is needed to get receivers open and it’s more difficult for a quarterback to have covered receivers in a pared down offense than mastering the whole playbook.

You could make a case for either side of the coin but if that’s the way the Vikings see it then we shouldn’t expect for them to be running the kiddie version. That could slow down McCarthy’s starting date. In Year 1 of KOC’s offense, Kirk Cousins struggled at times during minicamp and training camp to get all the receivers on the same page. It seems much more likely that McCarthy will need to have all the details of the scheme locked in before he gets under center.

Chemistry with receivers
Captain Obvious here: The most important person on the Vikings roster to McCarthy’s success is Justin Jefferson. It’s hard to say when Jefferson will sign a multi-year contract extension but we can say pretty safely that he isn’t going to practice until he does. If that doesn’t happen until the middle/end of training camp, it might be more difficult for McCarthy to be fully prepared to start.

You could argue that Nick Mullens had big numbers when passing to Jefferson too but Mullens is also fluent in the offense and knew where Jefferson was going to be at all times.

Not that the other receivers don’t matter. The chemistry between Cousins and TJ Hockenson became downright deadly after a slow start to last season. There are options built into the tight end’s assignments that require a certain backyard element. Hockenson isn’t likely to start the season due to his recovery from an ACL injury.

Will preseason matter?
In the last two years under O’Connell, the preseason has not weighed as heavily in the evaluation as camp practices. Will that change this year with McCarthy? How much will he play? Last year we saw Jaren Hall get a decent amount of work but he didn’t start an entire game until the final preseason game.

Would they prefer that McCarthy only play behind the starting offensive line and with the starting receivers or would it simply be in his favor to get as many professional type reps as he can? Would it matter if he lights up opponents in preseason action?

Fastballs and risk taking
One thing we can say with a high level of certainty is that McCarthy has thrown very few passes at a Division I level, which means he will need to grow significantly when it comes to “layering” the ball over defenders and becoming comfortable with throwing into NFL windows.

But it shouldn’t be a total holdup if he makes mistakes doing those things. The decision shouldn’t be made as much on the back of whether he makes young QB mistakes like forcing the ball into a tough spot or trying to whip it through a defender’s facemask, it should be more focused on the overall operation, getting in and out of the huddle, getting players liked up correctly, throwing the ball on time with the play and knowing when to escape the pocket and when to hang in.

O’Connell will need a strong sense for McCarthy’s overall confidence when he makes the decision… whenever that will be.