Vikings’ Justin Jefferson admits quiet part out loud about Sam Darnold vs. J.J. McCarthy

The Minnesota Vikings sent their general manager packing after Sam Darnold’s NFC Championship Game performance. And the sting of how they could have kept him lingered. Also, star receiver Justin Jefferson said the quiet part out loud about Darnold versus current quarterback JJ McCarthy.

Simply put, the Vikings would have been better this year with Darnold, according to USA Today via ESPN.

“Everyone knows the difficulty of the quarterback position this year, how we were dealt it,” Jefferson said. “But having a quarterback that already had a season under his belt with us, knew the plays, knew the playbook, knew the players, throwing to me, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, all these guys. I definitely feel like we would have done better.”

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson’s numbers tell a plain story

With Darnold under center, Jefferson caught 103 passes for 1,533 yards with 10 touchdowns.

But in 2025, with McCarthy starting 10 games, Jefferson finished with 84 catches for 1,048 yards and a shockingly low two touchdowns.

Jefferson doesn’t appear to have given up McCarthy, even though the young quarterback has missed 25 games over his first two seasons. Still, he’s struggling to watch Darnold fly high with the Seahawks.

“It’s definitely tough,” Jefferson said. “It’s tough to watch,” Jefferson said. “Of course, I love that he’s in the Super Bowl. I’m happy for him. I want nothing but the best for him, especially the way his journey was at first, people doubting him, and people not giving him the respect. Now they’re giving him that respect. Now they’re seeing that he’s a top-tier quarterback in this league.

“Of course, selfishly, I wish that he had done that for us last year. But to see him blossom and bounce back right after last year and make it this year, I’m all happy for him. And I hope he wins. I’m rooting for Seattle, and I think Seattle’s going to win. I’ll be rooting for him.”

The decision to cut bait with Darnold, even though it seemed to be widely accepted among NFL “experts,” has led to chaos with the Vikings. Now they must hope that McCarthy somehow develops into a quarterback who can get the team back into the playoffs.

But McCarthy’s 57.6 completion percentage and more interceptions (12) than touchdowns (11) don’t bode well for that.

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