“Home” sweet Minnesota.
New Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy and fiancée Katya Kuropas touched down in Minnesota after the team selected the former Michigan product with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Re-sharing a post from McCarthy’s Instagram page, Kuropas — who announced her engagement to the 21-year-old quarterback in January — added a pic of the couple posing in front of a private Vikings plane on her Instagram Story with the caption, “Home.”
McCarthy was the fifth quarterback taken in Thursday’s first round, which began with the Bears drafting Caleb Williams first overall, followed by Jayden Daniels to the Commanders, Drake Maye to the Patriots and Michael Penix Jr. to the Falcons at No. 8 in a draft-day stunner.
The Vikings lost Kirk Cousins to the Falcons in free agency and added Sam Darnold, a former first-round pick by the Jets in 2018.
Team brass is prioritizing McCarthy’s development and won’t rush the process, according to general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
“We’re just going to do what’s best for the Vikings in the short and long term,” he said, according to ESPN.
McCarthy is coming off a national championship win at Michigan, where he started the past two seasons.
Entering this year’s draft, there were questions about whether McCarthy could shoulder the load asked of NFL quarterbacks, as the Wolverines often relied on their running game and defense to win games.
“In big, big moments in games when they needed him to find a way, other ways, just to make a throw, other ways to extend a play, he made a lot of those plays,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said of McCarthy.
Though McCarthy’s NFL debut may be some time off, he’s eager to get to work.
“My mindset is just to take one day at a time,” McCarthy said, adding, “and really focus on just getting to know everyone’s names, getting to know the playbook inside and out, and to focus on being the best version of myself every single day.”
McCarthy will be settling into his new surroundings with Kuropas, his high-school sweetheart.
The couple is also pet parents to pup Marley.
