Cris Carter Did It Again: Another Harsh Reality Check for J.J. McCarthy
For years, a good part of the Minnesota Vikings fan base wanted their franchise to invest a high draft pick in a quarterback. So-called quarterback whisperer Kevin O’Connell would surely be the first one to find a true homegrown franchise quarterback in the Twin Cities in decades.
Cris Carter Did It Again: Another Harsh Reality Check for J.J. McCarthy
Through the first season and the first 10 games of the second, the results haven’t been that great for O’Connell’s project, J.J. McCarthy. His mechanics are all over the place, he’s making the usual rookie mistakes in terms of decision-making, and the passing attack hasn’t looked this flawed in years.
After the game, Vikings legend Cris Carter ripped McCarthy on social media, revealing his true thoughts on McCarthy’s latest performance against the Chicago Bears.
On Monday, Carter was interviewed by KFAN-FM 100.3’s Dan Barreiro, and he shared his concerns. He started by saying that his former teammate Daunte Culpepper, and McCarthy barely have anything in common.
“Daunte sat his first year. We were very, very explosive. The thing about Daunte that was easy to see was, Daunte was going to be a superstar in the league. His running ability was fearless, and he was a problem. Daunte’s anticipation throwing the football was superior to what we saw yesterday. Daunte’s ability to throw the ball with different velocities and speeds was definitely superior.”
Culpepper was undoubtedly a physical phenom at the quarterback position at a time when pocket passers with limited explosiveness dominated the league.
“And by the way, in that first year, there was two guys by the name of Moss and Carter, and there was no game that we dropped five balls like I saw them dudes drop [on Sunday],” the Hall of Famer noted. “Indoors, perfect conditions, 150 yards passing. That’s where I would stop the comparisons to Daunte Culpepper.”
The drops have been a massive problem for the Vikings. Given the talent of the WR room and the shaky QB play, the offense has to rely on receivers making plays rather than dropping some easy ones. Of course, McCarthy deserves blame for putting too much heat on some of them or missing his target, but they also dropped some fantastic throws, and in the current offense, that is even more of a no-go than usual.
Then, Carter went into detail.
“He’s a quarterback that has some athleticism, but [on Sunday], none of that was utilized. I see a guy that the game, sometimes, is faster than him. I see a guy that, sometimes, he shortens his drop and doesn’t get deep enough and patient enough that, then he’s trying to catch up and throw the football, and typically it makes the ball sail. Sometimes his elbow is too low. The fundamentals in the pocket, all those things are real. I do enjoy watching quarterback play, but right now, he looks like almost any other first-rounder to play five games, start in five games.”
For some reason, McCarthy didn’t use his legs nearly as much as he used to in previous outings. He primarily stayed in the pocket — granted, the excellent pass protection certainly helped.
Likely the biggest reason for concern is McCarthy’s inexplicable misses on wide-open targets. He missed Jordan Addison on the opening drive downfield, and Jefferson tried to pull off a superhuman effort and still couldn’t get near the ball a couple of times. Whether those misses give Carter pause, the former wideout said:
“Of course. Because, at this point, even on your fifth start, there are some simple things that you should be able to do and not struggle. Yesterday, [Kevin O’Connell] was trying to give him some easy things to do, and he couldn’t even do those. It’s not only J.J. I compare J.J. to every other quarterback, every other journeyman that’s been in KOC’s system… the quarterbacks, all of them have performed at a higher rate, completion-wise, than J.J. All of them. Josh Dobbs. All of them.”
Indeed, O’Connell’s system might not be easy to play, but it’s easy to rack up big numbers. Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold took full advantage of that luxury. Even Nick Mullens had a pair of 390-yard games. McCarthy failed to reach 160 passing yards in four of his five starts. The one outlier is his 248-yard contest against Baltimore, in which he tossed the ball 42 times.
For Carter, game speed is playing a bigger role than the mechanics and fundamentals that head coach O’Connell views as the culprits of the struggles.
“That plays a role, but [for] the good players, the game slows down. The game has not slowed down for him. At some point, the game will slow down, or at some point, he won’t be that good. One of those two things is going to happen,” Carter added.
McCarthy has still only played five games. It’s way too early to put a bust label on him. However, he needs to show improvement in the near future. The blatant misses don’t have to disappear entirely, but they have to be reduced dramatically.
Through five games, McCarthy has thrown for 842 yards, six touchdowns, and eight interceptions. On the ground, he has added another 110 yards and two scores.
The young passer has a handful of outstanding plays every week, but folks can’t focus on that because of his mind-boggling mistakes. That ratio needs to change pretty quickly.
His next chance to do that will come on Sunday, when the Vikings play their annual game at Lambeau Field. McCarthy has already helped his squad to a pair of in-division road victories, but he wants the trifecta.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.