Could J.J. McCarthy get taken in the draft earlier than expected? And could that lead to the Vikings landing one of either Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels?
ESPN’s draft analyst Matt Miller says he’s “buying” the idea that McCarthy, long thought the No. 4 QB in the draft, could be taken by Washington at No. 2.
In a column about growing draft buzz, Miller noted that “teams do things differently than we all would and make surprise selections every single year.”
“While McCarthy wouldn’t be my pick – he’s my QB4 – we don’t know what Commanders owner Josh Harris, general manager Adam Peters and coach Dan Quinn want at the position,” continued Miller.
With a glaring hole at QB and two first-round picks, the Vikings have been thought of as the most likely team to move up in the draft to acquire their quarterback of the future. The 2024 draft class is deep on QBs with four to six quarterbacks projected as potential first-round picks.
Washington taking McCarthy at No. 2 opens the door for the Vikings to move up and select either LSU’s Daniels or North Carolina’s Maye, who are both considered better prospects than McCarthy.
“McCarthy is inexperienced compared to Daniels (who would be my pick), but I can’t rule out the possibility that Washington has fallen in love with McCarthy following his pro day and its time spent with him individually,” Miller continued. “I’ll say it’s unlikely right now that it would be a quarterback other than Daniels at No. 2 overall, but history has proved that nothing should be ruled out.”
According to Mock Draft Database the consensus order among draft analysts is that USC’s Caleb Williams will be the first QB taken in the draft followed up by Daniels then Maye. McCarthy is widely thought of as QB4 ahead of Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix.
The Vikings have been doing their due diligence on the quarterback class by attending Pro Days and hosting private workouts with Daniels, Maye, McCarthy, Penix and Nix in the past weeks.
