The quarterback competition will begin as soon as the Vikings hit the practice field on Wednesday afternoon at TCO Performance Center.

It features veteran quarterback Sam Darnold, the leader in the clubhouse to be named the starter who is looking to revitalize his career, going up against rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the future face of the franchise at the position who still has a ton of room to grow.

Asked how he plans to handle the situation moving forward, coach Kevin O’Connell confirmed that Darnold will take most of the reps with the first team in the early stages, while notably leaving the door open for McCarthy to garner some reps with first team, as well.

“We’ve got individualized plans for all of our guys,” O’Connell said. “We get a whole lot of time on the grass to really work through exactly where each individual guy is at.”

That’s why the Vikings have no interest in discussing the depth chart at the moment. They have more than a month to make their final decision, and thus, whoever is named the starter for the Sept. 8 opener against the New York Giants will be determined by watching how training camp unfolds.

In that span, there will be countless hours at TCO Performance Center, a couple of joint practices against the Cleveland Browns on the road, and a few preseason games for good measure. In other words, Darnold and McCarthy will get ample time to prove themselves, and the Vikings will get ample time to assess their options.

As the Vikings work through everything with Darnold and McCarthy in the coming weeks, it helps that veteran quarterback Nick Mullens already has a bunch of experience in the system. Even if he has to play in a pinch at some point, Mullens will be ready because of his institutional knowledge of the offense.

There seems to be a genuine excitement within the Vikings about Darnold and where he could take his career. He hasn’t had a very good support system in the past, playing for the struggling New York Jets and Carolina Panthers before finally finding some stability with the San Francisco 49ers.

As for McCarthy, O’Connell noted that the Vikings won’t rush any part of the process, regardless of how loud the outside noise gets along the way with those clamoring for the No. 10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

“Our decision to bring J.J. here was all out of the belief that we feel that we can put together a plan that helps him become the best player and best quarterback that hopefully he can become,” O’Connell said. “I will not allow any factors outside of what’s best for J.J. and what’s best to help the Vikings win.”

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