Lo and Behold, A J.J. McCarthy Mini Controversy Has Been Squashed
Only a matter of time, folks.
Understandably, J.J. McCarthy was fairly limited with what he was capable of doing after undergoing a season-ending knee injury. Part of the downside of his recovery was losing a bit of weight, a concern given that he’s already a touch undersized for the position. The good news is simply that Kevin O’Connell slyly addressed the mini controversy in a recent sitdown with The NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
J.J. McCarthy is Healthy and Heavy
(Or, At Least, Back Up to a Normal Weight)
Start off with the issue: there were reports swirling around the internet about Mr. McCarthy dropping some weight.
Back in January, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert passed along a story that described a young passer who “appeared thinner than usual as he watched the game from the sideline in a T-shirt and shorts.” Not long afterwards, Seifert quantifies the issue: “Listed at 219 pounds at the start of training camp, McCarthy dropped more than 20 pounds this fall, following a pattern familiar for many football players who put strength workouts on hold during the rehabilitation process.”
Similarly, Jason La Canfora apparently reported a similar idea for J.J. McCarthy, as Dustin Baker discussed on Vikings Territory.
Now, consider what the head coach had to say in his recent interview.
Roughly three minutes into the conversation, O’Connell shoehorns the weight update — I assume it was intentional — into his answer about Minnesota’s quarterback position: “Yeah, J.J. is having a great offseason, he’s in daily. At a place now where the workouts he’s putting in, throwing-wise, getting stronger. He’s gained all his weight back from making sure that that knee healed properly” (emphasis added).
Kevin O’Connell — an optimist by nature — is among the best people to assess where his young quarterback is at with his recovery. The physical component of things is looking really good.
Even more encouraging is that McCarthy used the missed season to develop intellectually. Kick it back to O’Connell for the update: “At the same time, he had a great year from a mental standpoint. I asked him to pseudo treat it like a redshirt year where he was able to mentally really kind of totally submerse himself in our offense and the verbiage, and live through Sam [Darnold].”
Toward the end of his answer, O’Connell articulates his desire to see McCarthy snag the QB1 throne, becoming the starter in 2025. Ideally, McCarthy won’t relinquish control of that spot for a little while. He is, after all, still only 22.
Minnesota, of course, both wants and needs more quarterback depth. Expectations are high for the young passer — especially since his body is in a great spot, which is to say nothing of the mental gains that were made — but there’s no such thing as too many capable passers. The key will rest in threading the needle, bringing in a QB2 who knows he’s the QB2 while still being comfortable with possibly being a short-term QB1.
In other words, Minnesota will be looking for a quarterback who is comfortable being the backup, accepting the job while nevertheless having an internal drive and fire to get onto the field. The ideal QB2 is thus one who will mentor, push, and support J.J. McCarthy with the understanding that the young passer is leading the show while still being capable of giving his team a shot to win if there ends up being a need to step onto the field.
Jonathan James McCarthy comes in at 6’3″ and 219 pounds. For whatever it’s worth, Kirk Cousins is listed at 6’3″ and 205 pounds, so we’re talking about a comparable range for the Vikings’ past and present at quarterback.
The team is sitting on roughly $17.1 million in open cap room for when they decide to make a move at quarterback.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on social media (Bluesky & Twitter). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.