Preseason grades aren't worth obsessing over. But they're fun to consider.
Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports released his Week 1 marks for first-round rookies Tuesday morning. Immediately, we wondered how Vikings draft picks J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner fared on the scale.
According to Trapasso – and plenty of other pundits, by the way – they performed pretty well in their first NFL preseason game.
McCarthy, the 10th overall selection and fifth quarterback drafted in 2024, earned an A- grade, same as Washington's Jayden Daniels (No. 2 overall) and Atlanta's Michael Penix, Jr. (No. 8). Top draft pick Caleb Williams of the Bears received an A for his play while Denver's Bo Nix (No. 12) was handed a B+ grade. Note: New England's Drake Maye (No. 3) was excluded from the list due to a lack of positive or negative impact.
Here's Trapasso on McCarthy, who impressed with a pair of touchdowns and 188 yards passing.
McCarthy was afforded some open targets via Minnesota's awesome scheme, yet the rookie operated the offense wonderfully outside of a slightly late throw while under pressure that resulted in an interception when a Raiders defender undercut the pass near the sideline. His first touchdown was thrown with outstanding touch and anticipation deep down the field. Well before that, on his first drop back, McCarthy moved through his reads, stepped into the pocket, and fired a dart over the middle.
McCarthy returned to Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center on Monday with knee soreness and did not participate in practice that night.
Trapasso was equally encouraged by Turner, awarding the rookie outside linebacker an A-, the highest grade among front-seven defenders picked in Round 1. Check out Trapasso's complete rundown here.
Turner played 22 snaps, with 15 pass-rush opportunities and generated two pressures against the Raiders. He even got double-teamed in the first quarter. Yeah, Las Vegas was aware of his explosiveness and bend around the corner. I love how Turner used his power on both of his pressures. Underrated element of his game that blossomed in his final season at Alabama.
Albert Breer soaks up Vikings training camp
Blue skies and rays of sunshine left an impression on Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer at Vikings training camp.
So did quarterbacks Sam Darnold and McCarthy, and the club's standing off the edge and at safety.
The senior NFL writer Breer observed practice last week at TCO Performance Center and met with team leadership as the Vikings geared up for their first exhibition game against the Raiders.
Breer relayed multiple positives in his takeaways, making mention of Darnold's improvement – noting the 27-year-old is playing faster – and McCarthy's as-advertised arm talent, athleticism and intangibles.
Breer shared his belief Darnold will start at quarterback for the Vikings because of his growth the last couple of seasons and Head Coach Kevin O'Connell's disciplined approach with McCarthy's development.
[Darnold is] playing faster than he did earlier in his career, and the progress was evident to the Vikings going from his late 2022 tape in Carolina, to last year's preseason with the 49ers, to the Christmas night cameo in Baltimore's blowout of San Francisco (go back and watch that one). Playing for Ben McAdoo and Kyle Shanahan also gave Darnold a really good baseline for the transition to O'Connell's system, and the decisiveness with which he's playing now make that evident. The second reason? While McCarthy's arm talent, athleticism and intangibles have come as advertised, I believe O'Connell is going to be very disciplined about actually putting the rookie out there — this won't be one of those situations where the team has a couple tough weeks, and they put him out there to try and create a spark. I also believe McCarthy, who's reworking some things fundamentally (he's cleaned up stuff with footwork), will benefit greatly from having a coach who's prioritizing his development.
Beyond commenting on the quarterback position, Breer examined a couple offensive skill rooms, delved into the depot of Vikings pass-rushers post-Danielle Hunter, sorted through arguably the deepest position (safety) and tabbed grizzly bear left guard Blake Brandel as the under-the-radar star of camp.
Let's begin with what Breer said of Brandel:
The big, strong, athletic five-year vet got a three-year extension from the Vikings in March, largely on the versatility he showed the last few years in backing up several spots on the line (he actually started at left tackle for an injured Christian Darrisaw for a few weeks in 2022). That said, the coaches felt like he might benefit from being able to focus on playing one spot, and that's proven correct in slotting him in this summer at left guard. He, Ed Ingram and Dalton Risner are still battling for the two guard spots.
The 10th player out of 15 taken by the Vikings (most in team history) in the 2020 NFL Draft, Brandel spent his entire rookie season on the practice squad. He garnered 65 offensive snaps in his second season and was elevated to temporary starter in 2022 (three games in place of Christian Darrisaw at left tackle). Last year, Brandel played two full games at right guard, otherwise appearing on special teams.
On the other side of the trenches, Breer named veteran acquisitions Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel as edge players talented enough to help neutralize Hunter's exit, along with the highly touted Turner and breakthrough candidate Pat Jones II. He cites Greenard's mentorship as big for Turner.
Greenard's athleticism and length is showing up on the practice field, and his leadership has been key elsewhere, which is a bit of a departure from what they had in the stoic Hunter. That's really helped Turner, whose development in Brian Flores's attacking system will be interesting. And Minnesota's got depth there too, with Van Ginkel (who played for Flores in Miami) and camp surprise Jones stepping up. It's fair to say you'll probably see the four of these guys on the field together on some passing downs.
While we're here, it's worth pointing out that Greenard – who, by the way, flip-flopped with the Houston-bound Hunter – logged a Texans team-leading 12.5 sacks and 15 tackles for a loss in 2023.
Van Ginkel sustained a foot injury at the tail end of last season. He's got chops in coverage and is a savvy pass-rusher when he's healthy – he had a career-best 20 quarterback hits in 2021 under Flores' tutelage. Peep the nifty interception Van Ginkel recorded Monday.
Now, let's backpedal, because Breer claims safety "might be the deepest position on the roster."
The Vikings feel great about where they're at with Harrison Smith, Camryn Bynum and Josh Metellus — all three of those guys have well-defined roles. Theo Jackson, who's bounced around a bit, has emerged as a darkhorse to earn a role, too. That stability is good, given that the Vikings have some moving pieces at corner to work through beyond veterans Shaq Griffin and Byron Murphy, Jr., with Fabian Moreau, Akayleb Evans and Dwight McGlothern battling for reps in a competition that could carry well into the season.
Quickly, we'll add Bobby McCain (another Flores disciple) and 2023 fourth-round draft pick Jay Ward to the chat. Both have experience at cornerback and safety. McCain said when he was signed earlier in training camp that he's comfortable playing all five of the defensive back positions. Ward has recently trained on the perimeter in practice, played there in Saturday's preseason win over Las Vegas and was a regular on special teams throughout his rookie campaign. They enhance the depth of a notably strong safety group.
The other focus for Breer was studying the Vikings wide receivers and running backs.
He says both positions carry questions that are being answered in training camp – a la, who will be WR3 and how will the ball carrier situation play out after 2023 starter Alexander Mattison walked this spring.
On the first one, the Vikings are sure hoping that Jalen Nailor is the answer. The 2022 sixth-rounder is shining in camp for a third straight year. What's felled him in the past is his inability to stay healthy. With some luck, the Vikings see him developing into an ideal complement to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Their reason for optimism on that? He has inside/outside flexibility, which is essential given how much the Vikings move Jefferson and Addison around, and has shown he can consistently win his 1-on-1s. On the second question, Aaron Jones, Sr., has fit in perfectly, and Minnesota is set to platoon him with Ty Chandler, which, the Vikings think, will be an upgrade from where they were last year.
Nailor isn't just shining in practice – he was terrific in limited action Saturday, hauling in three of four targets for 63 yards, including two chunk gains (19, 26 yards) via Darnold on the opening Vikings drive.
