Who takes the blame for J.J. McCarthy exiting Minnesota as a draft bust?

EAGAN, Minn. -- Less than two years ago, Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell appeared on the "Rich Eisen Show" and uttered 12 words that will be dissected in Minnesota for years to come. "I believe that organizations fail young quarterbacks before young quarterbacks fail organizations," O'Connell said during the interview, which took place in September 2024. Two years later, it's fair to ask: Does that explain Monday's news that the Vikings traded J.J. McCarthy for a fifth-round pick after only two seasons, 10 games and 243 pass attempts? Is that why McCarthy is now headed to the New York Giants to resurrect his career at an age -- 23 years, 9 months -- that makes him younger than most of the quarterbacks drafted this spring? Did the Vikings organization fail him? Or was McCarthy simply a spectacularly historic draft bust who wouldn't have made it no matter which organization drafted him? The truth is that no key player in this debacle -- arguably the biggest personnel miss in franchise history -- is without blame. The general manager who drafted McCarthy, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, was fired in January. He and O'Connell put McCarthy on the field before he was ready. And before anyone saw anything close to a finished version of the player, the team's remaining decision-makers -- O'Connell, former interim general manager Rob Brzezinski and new general manager Nolan Teasley -- rendered a final judgment on him. Even owners Zygi and Mark Wilf absorb some of the responsibility. Their insistence on never taking a competitive step back usually provides fans with entertaining seasons, but it is not conducive to giving young quarterbacks sufficient time to develop. Sam Darnold took over when McCarthy missed his rookie season with a knee injury. McCarthy undeniably played better at the end of his 10-game stint last season than at the beginning, and in a more forgiving environment, O'Connell and Teasley might have had more patience. In a conversation this summer, former Vikings coach Brad Childress recalled a standard articulated by Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh and still makes sense today: Give a promising young quarterback 24 games -- one full season and a half of a second, in the days of a 16-game schedule -- before deciding the next steps. During the offseason, the Vikings added free agent Kyler Murray, who is now starting, pushing McCarthy to QB3 behind No. 2 Carson Wentz. McCarthy, for his part, made some clear mistakes beyond his obvious poor performance. His frenetic play style contributed to four injuries that limited his development, and it contributed to his status as the only quarterback in the NFL's modern draft era to be selected in the first round and miss his entire rookie season for health reasons. During his time in Minnesota, McCarthy suffered knee and ankle injuries, as well as a concussion, while running outside of the pocket. A hairline fracture in his right hand, meanwhile, occurred when he climbed the pocket -- unnecessarily, coaches believed -- and hit his thumb on the helmet of left guard Donovan Jackson. Some of the missteps took place behind the scenes, revealing surprising levels of immaturity. One of them, sources said, was accelerating his knee recovery in the fall of 2024 -- before he was medically cleared to do so. The sources said that's why McCarthy developed swelling, which led to a second surgery. The procedure was successful, and all athletes push boundaries, but the episode left an impression inside the building. Another was sometimes working outside the offensive scheme and system in ways that prompted pushback from O'Connell. That assertion does not require unnamed sources to substantiate. O'Connell himself revealed an example during one of his weekly video interviews on the Vikings' website with team play-by-play announcer Paul Allen. Speaking in December 2025, O'Connell recounted his interactions with McCarthy in postgame film sessions. "In certain times of the season," O'Connell said, "you would get a response of, 'I thought this player was going to do that,' speaking about a defensive player. Or, 'Hey, I played with [cornerback] Mike Sainristil at Michigan. He's real instinctive, he might try to do this.'" O'Connell said he responded by saying, "Stop. Just quiet your mind and let's not overthink anything other than, 'What is my job on the play in making good decisions and putting the ball in play?'" In 2025, McCarthy referred to a game-day alter ego he called "Nine." Later, in a Week 15 game last season at the Dallas Cowboys, McCarthy began a touchdown celebration five yards before he reached the end zone. McCarthy said afterwards that coaches told him in practice not to celebrate early, which he said made him more determined to do it during a game. Anyway you look at it, McCarthy has been one of the bigger draft letdowns for a team before exiting in recent NFL history. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is one of four quarterbacks drafted in Round 1 in the past 25 years to start 10 or fewer games for the team that drafted them, joining Paxton Lynch, Trey Lance and Johnny Manziel, per Elias. And in Vikings history, he is one of four first-round picks -- at any position -- to play in 10 or fewer games for them. He joins safety Lewis Cine (2022), defensive end Dimitrius Underwood (1999) and running back Leo Hayden (1971) -- to play 10 or fewer games for the team. When a quarterback starts his career the way McCarthy did, criticism can come from all angles and eventually becomes contradictory. That was the case this summer, when sources said McCarthy told team officials he was uncomfortable with playing in the final preseason game because of an injured ankle. It was a 180-degree turn from 2025, when he drew the Vikings' ire for not promptly communicating some of his injuries. The most notable example came in Week 16, when pain in his injured thumb caused him to drop the ball in the pocket. The Giants recovered the fumble and returned it for a touchdown. McCarthy now takes his place in the Vikings' tragicomic quarterback lore. They have tried drafting a quarterback in the first round four times since 1999, and all four have flamed out for various reasons. A catastrophic knee injury felled Daunte Culpepper in 2005. Christian Ponder was benched in 2013, his third season. Teddy Bridgewater was never the same after another catastrophic knee injury in the summer of 2016, prior to his third season. The McCarthy era -- over before it really began -- was the most dramatic yet.