DRAFT HIM IN: Round 12 or later
This essentially will be the rookie season for the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, who missed all of last year after suffering a knee injury in the preseason opener. McCarthy is in a great situation, getting to play with the best wide receiver in the NFL (Justin Jefferson) and one of the best play-callers in the league (Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell).
O’Connell has proven time and time again that he is a quarterback whisperer. With the masterful schemer guiding him in 2024, Sam Darnold had 35 passing touchdowns, topping his previous single-season high by 16, and finished as the QB9 in fantasy points, breaking into the top 25 for the first time in his career. Under O’Connell in 2023, Kirk Cousins was the QB8 in average points per game through Week 8, putting him well on his way to a career year at age 35 until a torn Achilles abruptly ended his season. And in 2021, Matthew Stafford recorded the second-best fantasy season of his career (behind only his 2011 campaign with the Lions) with O’Connell as the Rams’ offensive coordinator.
Instead of taking Bo Nix in the sixth round of fantasy football drafts, wait and grab McCarthy six rounds later. I do not expect their production to be all that different, either passing or rushing, in 2025.
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