There Are 3 Dumb J.J. McCarthy Media Talkers
A year ago, the Minnesota Vikings found their new franchise quarterback when they traded up from 11 to 10 to pick Michigan’s national champion, J.J. McCarthy. A knee injury delayed his arrival by a year, but he has now gotten the keys to take over as Minnesota’s QB1.
There Are 3 Dumb J.J. McCarthy Media Talkers
The rumor mill was crazy ahead of the free agency, and in the first few weeks, but the Vikings said no thanks to anyone who could delay him entering the starting unit any further: no Kirk Cousins, no Aaron Rodgers, and no Sam Darnold.
However, not everyone is convinced. In the week after the draft, a trio of mind-boggling McCarthy talkers have come out of nowhere, and they are all strange.
Kevin O’Connell Not Confident
Whenever he talks about him, head coach Kevin O’Connell acts like a teenage girl in love for the first time. Yet, apparently, he is not confident, says CBS Sports‘ Garrett Podell.
Podell wrote: “The Minnesota Vikings drafted J.J. McCarthy 10th overall out of Michigan with an eye on him being their starting quarterback in the future, and they let Sam Darnold walk this offseason to accelerate that timeline. However, it’s unclear how much faith they have in McCarthy fully being ready to roll in 2025 after tearing his meniscus in the 2024 preseason. O’Connell confirmed Minnesota ‘evaluated’ Aaron Rodgers and is ‘hopeful’ McCarthy is the team’s starting quarterback. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.”
About the conversations they had about Rodgers, that’s their job. If the Vikings don’t even think about signing a Hall of Fame quarterback, what are they even doing? The big takeaway is that they passed on the aging passer to stick with McCarthy.
Oh, and do you want to read O’Connell’s ringing endorsement? That exists and is from March.
“Yeah, he’s not a rookie. He’s been able to have, you know, that pseudo redshirt year, albeit without the reps we have wanted, but I’m really confident, really excited to see him hit the ground running. He’s had a great offseason and can’t wait to get going with him.”
The head coach has been on various radio and TV shows this offseason, and he’s always stressing how excited he is to work with the kid.
He’ll Get Hurt
Last preseason, McCarthy suffered a torn meniscus that knocked him out for a full season. The good news is that it happened so early that there shouldn’t be any lingering effects going forward. The medical staff also opted for the full repair, which is considered the better option for long-term health. He’s back on the field, and the season is still four months away. Vikings fans can take a deep breath and consider the issue a thing of the past.
An anonymous executive talked to The Athletic, however, and he is not so sure about that.
Mike Sando wrote in a recent article: “The Vikings’ quarterback situation has dominated this offseason, complete with some Aaron Rodgers intrigue, but after Minnesota acquired Sam Howell from Seattle to back up 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy, all is finally settled, right? ‘You know what is going to happen?’ an exec who wasn’t high on McCarthy asked. ‘J.J. is going to get banged up, and Howell is going to walk in there and become the next Sam Darnold.’
It’s quite strange to suggest a player will get hurt. Sure, he might get hurt, but he’s not more or less likely to get banged up than anyone else.
Nervous Presser
And we reach perhaps the dumbest of the three items.
When the Vikings arrived at TCO Performance Center for the first offseason workout, some guys who are considered team leaders had media sessions. Among those were Brian O’Neill, Josh Metellus, Jonathan Greenard, and, well, McCarthy.
It was a pretty standard presser, and the sophomore was, as always, a well-spoken, confident young man. He never sounds like he is just 22 years old, and has always been excellent at talking to the media. This press conference didn’t suggest otherwise.
Unless you listen to a podcast with the Athletic’s Dianna Russini and ex-NFL passer, Chase Daniel.
“It just sounded like it was almost rehearsed in his head a little bit, but I do believe he feels that,” Daniel said last week on the Scoop City podcast “I think it’s just mainly — we’re making too big a deal about this — he’s just nervous to talk in front of the media, and look, he’s a first-time starter. … I’m excited to see what he can do on the field, just looks a little green there. He needs to work on that a little.”
It is notable, though, that he said that on Russini’s podcast. She was the primary person driving the Aaron Rodgers rumors and kept going until the very last second, even after most other big-name reporters shut down that topic once and for all.