NFL.com's young 'breakout' candidates
Have we mentioned, yet, that the "rankings" and "lists" part of the spring is in full swing?
NFL Media's Jeff Chadiha recently spotlighted three players he thinks are primed for success in 2025. In a video posted to NFL.com, Chadiha supplied takes on his "breakout candidates", including McCarthy.
Chadiha noted another NFC North quarterback, Williams, has been a central figure in some offseason conversations, but that McCarthy has greater expectations attached to him because of the foundation that's been laid – and proven – in Minnesota, which won 14 games in 2024 without him.
"[The Vikings] were super excited about what [he did] in the preseason last year," Chadiha said. "They loved his charisma and his leadership, his intelligence. He's a guy who is 100% positivity all the time, and he was on track to be the player they hoped he was going to be when he became the 10th overall pick."
So what's changed since then? A lot, obviously. Some things unfortunate for McCarthy, such as missing his rookie season because of a meniscus tear in his lone exhibition game. That is months of on-field work evaporated – time that can't be returned. Some aspects, however, may wind up being beneficial to McCarthy in the long run. He wasn't subjected to trial by fire, for one. Secondly, he was able to stabilize his knowledge of Minnesota's schematics behind the scenes.