INDIANAPOLIS — J.J. McCarthy skillfully navigated his media availability on Friday morning at the NFL Combine. As a top quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft, he had to know he was going to get peppered with questions from beat writers far and wide about which teams he has had formal interviews with this week.

His answer about the Vikings stood out above the rest. He confirmed that he had a formal interview, then raved about getting a chance to talk shop with head coach Kevin O’Connell throughout the allotted 18-minute session. There seemed to be genuine excitement in his voice.

“Everything they want out of a quarterback aligns with what I want,” McCarthy said. “Just being able to get on the board with them and go through their plays was something really special.”

It’s impossible to ignore that McCarthy’s personality checks a lot of boxes with the Vikings contemplating their future. He loves the game more than anything and has a selflessness about him that doesn’t go unnoticed. That is exactly the type of person O’Connell has described in the abstract whenever he has been asked about the position.

“I’m not going to start being selfish now because I have to sell myself,” McCarthy said. “I’m going to sell myself on how much I care about my teammates. It goes hand in hand with who I am as a person. Just being selfless and caring about the guy next to me more than myself is something that’s innate, and I really can’t change.”

After garnering praise for his selflessness while leading Michigan to a national championship, that trait has almost become a knock on him throughout the predraft process. The biggest criticism of McCarthy is the fact that he wasn’t asked to throw the ball very much. He completed 240 of 332 passes for 2,991 yards and 22 touchdowns for the Wolverines in 2023.

His rebuttal?

“The only stat I cared about was W’s,” McCarthy said. “We did pretty good in that category.”

That said, McCarthy knows he has something to prove on Saturday afternoon at the NFL Combine, and he’s looking forward to putting his talents on full display. He confirmed that he will throw during the workouts on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, while adding that he will not run the 40-yard dash due to some hamstring tightness.

Asked if he had any specific goals in mind, McCarthy noted that he’s trying not to put too much pressure on himself.

“I’m more of a process guy,” he said. “Just worried about focusing on my fundamentals.”

Though it’s still unclear who the Vikings plan to take in the 2024 NFL Draft, if they considering a quarterback, it wouldn’t be surprising if McCarthy is near the top of the list.

“I’m a tough and gritty guy who only cares about winning at the end of the day,” McCarthy said. “Just pretty much everything a team would want in a starting quarterback.”

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