The future starts now with the Minnesota Vikings rolling with J.J. McCarthy as quarterback, with no other competition coming in. After speculation about whether the Vikings would re-sign Sam Darnold or bring in Aaron Rodgers to be the quarterback, Minnesota decided to stick to their guns with McCarthy starting. After trading up for him, the Vikings selected McCarthy in the first round in last year’s NFL Draft. Minnesota traded multiple picks, which resulted in McCarthy and outside linebacker Dallas Turner being selected by the Vikings in the first round. Those moves and trades made in 2023 resulted in the Vikings having just four picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. One of those picks could be used to find a reliable and developmental backup behind McCarthy. On Wednesday, ESPN NFL writer Ben Solak wrote an article looking at 12 rookie quarterbacks’ best fits in the upcoming draft. Solak has the Vikings selecting Ohio State quarterback Will Howard in the sixth round of the NFL Draft. “Ideally, the Vikings go QB earlier in this draft — but Howard in Round 6 is a pretty square deal. He had 43 starts over four seasons at Kansas State and a national championship campaign with Ohio State. With the Buckeyes, he looked the part of a poised and trustworthy veteran. I like Howard’s mobility, but he isn’t a one-read-and-scramble escape artist in the pocket. He’ll sit in there, bounce through progressions and look for the correct throw. He can break a tackle or two as well; he’s big and doesn’t shy away from contact.” “Howard can access all the levels of the field and is generally safe with the football, but he doesn’t see it fast and will get hoodwinked by coverage rotations at the snap. He needs an offense like the one Kevin O’Connell runs, as it protects the quarterback from high processing demands. At Ohio State, Howard picked his poison on isolation routes with elite college receivers in Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka. In Minnesota, he could do the same with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.” “If he hits, I could see Howard having a Jacoby Brissett-like career in the NFL. He might even get the designated sneaker role in Minnesota behind McCarthy!”
Howard led the Big Ten in completion percentage (73%), passing yards (4,010), and touchdowns (35) in 2024 with the Buckeyes. He led Ohio State to a national title in his only season with the school. Before McCarthy, the Vikings selected two quarterbacks in the NFL Draft since 2020, with Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond and Iowa’s Nate Stanley. Neither quarterback plays in the NFL, as Mond is starting for the San Antonio Brahmas of the UFL, and Stanley is out of football. Howard could be a potential steal late in the draft to help give the Vikings much-needed depth at quarterback behind McCarthy.
