Who Should I Start? Brett Rypien or J.J. McCarthy

Thursday, August 29, 1:14 PM

The Minnesota Vikings signed veteran quarterback Brett Rypien on Thursday and waived Jaren Hall in a corresponding move. It's a mild surprise after Hall seemingly cemented the job as the QB3 behind starter Sam Darnold and backup Nick Mullens with a strong preseason. The 28-year-old Rypien was released earlier this week by the Chicago Bears. He spent the first four seasons of his career with the Denver Broncos, starting three games, before moving to the Los Angeles Rams last year. The Vikings were hit with tough news earlier in training camp with rookie first-rounder J.J. McCarthy (knee) having to miss all of his rookie season. In his four years in the NFL, Rypien has completed 58.3% of his 168 pass attempts for just 950 yards, four touchdowns and nine interceptions in 10 games (four starts).

Tuesday, June 17, 12:07 PM

There are plenty of question marks surrounding Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the 10th overall pick last year, after he missed his rookie season in 2024 with a torn right meniscus in his knee. However, ESPN's Kevin Seifert writes that McCarthy's arm strength has been fine after it was a topic of discussion going into the 2024 draft. "He definitely has an arm," receiver Justin Jefferson said. "That's for sure. He can definitely zip it whenever he needs to." His arm has looked especially lively on throws down the middle of the field, and McCarthy is starting to learn to vary his throws after Jefferson noted last summer that the rookie tended to throw every ball the same way -- hard and straight. With no threats to the starting job under center, the 22-year-old is Minnesota's clear starting QB going into 2025 and has some of the best weapons in the league. He's a QB2 with upside in fantasy.