Vikings take McCarthy, land Turner in first round

For just the fifth time in franchise history, the Vikings selected a quarterback in the first round, and with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings select: J.J. McCarthy, quarterback, Michigan.

Few drafts in the last handful of years have garnered as much pre-draft speculation as what took place prior to this year, but that’s going to happen when you have six quarterbacks going in the first 12 picks of the draft - for the first time in history.

When the Vikings acquired the 23rd overall pick prior to the draft, the fanbase and NFL talking heads alike felt it was obvious the Vikings would try to move into the top-5 to get not just one of those prized signal-callers, but the one they wanted. That didn’t happen in the early picks as many were anticipating and instead, quarterbacks started falling off the board. By pick 10, four of the six prized QBs were off the board, so Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah finally made his move, swapping picks with the Jets to take McCarthy before anyone else had the chance to do so, and landing the quarterback of the national champion Michigan Wolverines. A 27-1 career record including a Rose Bowl win over Alabama put McCarthy in a position to join an NFL team that many were suggesting was the best landing spot for any rookie quarterback in this draft; right here in Minnesota. With two legitimate tackles and serious weapons across the team’s skill positions, including the game’s best receiver in J.J. Jefferson, McCarthy probably would have selected the Vikings with the first overall pick if the roles were reversed. If head coach Kevin O’Connell can guide Josh Dobbs to winning a road-game for a team before meeting his teammates, O’Connell can take the national championship winner from Michigan and keep the Vikings out of a rebuild, maybe more.

Once the quarterback frenzy passed, many of the blue-chip defensive players had yet to hear their name called as a result, and Kwesi made the drafts second trade as well, moving up from 23 to 17 to take another position of need, taking Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner to line up

opposite of Jonathan Greenard, their big free agent signed to replace Danielle Hunter. Turner is an explosive athlete that was a First Team All-American and SEC Defensive Player of the Year, with 10 sacks and 14.5 tackles for a loss. Some mock experts predicted the Vikings would select Turner, but at pick 11. Taking McCarthy at 11 and landing Turner at 17 means an A+ for Kwesi after round one.