Reports have surfaced early Monday morning with injury news regarding Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy. While there’s a lot of uncertainty still with how long McCarthy will be out, the impacts will be felt among all Vikings players in fantasy football.
Vikings Quarterback News Impacts Fantasy Football
What We Know as of Now:
Per Adam Schefter and the Vikings, McCarthy is set to undergo surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. In turn, Sam Darnold wins the quarterback battle in Minnesota by default. However, Ian Rapoport is also reporting there are two different timelines for McCarthy that will determine if he even plays this season.
As with most meniscus surgeries, there will be a determination made during the procedure to either trim or repair. The trim would mean out a few weeks. The repair would be many months. https://t.co/koVHkVdfDH
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 13, 2024
McCarthy saw most of the action in Minnesota’s preseason win over Las Vegas, but he also played the best. Aside from his glaringly bad interception, McCarthy was sharp against the Raiders. This makes the injury news an even bigger blow for Minnesota.
How long McCarthy is truly out for won’t be known until he has the surgery. A surgery date hasn’t been revealed, but it raises the question about the value Vikings skill players bring to the table.
Fantasy Impact of McCarthy’s Injury for Pass Catchers
It’s news like this that makes you wish your league waited until closer to the regular season to draft. There was a chance Darnold would be the starter whether McCarthy got hurt or not, but now it’s a definite. The Vikings know their offense just lost a big playmaker.
This THROW by JJ McCarthy 😳
McCarthy absolutely balled out in his NFL preseason debut against the Raiders:
• 11/17 (65%)
• 188 passing yards
• 2 passing TD’s
• 1 INT
• 18 rushing yards
• 24-23 WOf all rookie QB’s, McCarthy has looked the most pro-ready so far.
The… pic.twitter.com/Wa11HHSXu2
— NFL Rookie Watch (@NFLRookieWatxh) August 11, 2024
Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison now have major question marks going into 2024. Addison’s question mark got even bigger with his legal issues, but the other two now need to prepare for an offense led by Darnold.
Jefferson is arguably the one who suffers the most. The biggest reason being that Darnold’s highest total for yards per attempt in one season came in 2022 with 8.2 yards per attempt. That doesn’t bode well with a guy like Jefferson who has never finished a season with fewer than 14 yards per reception.
This means Darnold will either have to show off his arm strength, or Jefferson will have some heavy lifting to do. Either way, it’s not a good sign for Jefferson who was a lock to be drafted in the first round. He still may be a first rounder, but don’t be surprised if he falls in more drafts now.
The three tight ends being asked to fill in for T.J. Hockenson are now going to see more volume: Josh Oliver, Johnny Mundt and Robert Tonyan.
Let’s be clear: none of them are serviceable for fantasy football. Tonyan may not even make the roster after his training camp injury, according to Alec Lewis’ first depth chart projection.
Fantasy Beneficiaries
The other beneficiary? Aaron Jones. Unlike the aforementioned tight ends, Jones is certainly worth drafting even more so now than before. With Darnold under center, Jones is going to see a major increase in rushing attempts.
When healthy, Jones is a yearly 1,000-yard rusher. He’s done it three times over the course of his career. Jones also averages over 4.5 yards per carry season after season.
Jones would be the first to tell you he’d sacrifice his personal stats if it meant McCarthy was healthy. However, Jones’ ADP of 56 will be too good to be true if Minnesota can keep Jones on the field and get out of him what the Packers did in 2022.
Main Photo Courtesy of Brad Rempel – USA Today Sports
