Looks Like the New Captain Had a Decent Day
All eyes are on J.J. McCarthy in this year’s training camp. While Kirk Cousins was always Kirk Cousins for better or worse, nobody really knows what to expect from a first-time starter, something the Vikings haven’t had in a long time. His performance on Saturday was encouraging.
Looks Like the New Captain Had a Decent Day
McCarthy has one NFL game in his resume, and that was a preseason exhibition against the Las Vegas Raiders a year ago. That game, unfortunately, led to the torn meniscus and the following surgery to knock him out for the entire season.
No, so far, training camp has been the place to go to evaluate the young passer. On Saturday, he was sharp, and everyone involved agreed.
Consider the words of Si.com’s Will Ragatz: “This was perhaps McCarthy’s best day since last Saturday (maybe there’s something about a big crowd at TCO Performance Center that gets him ready to rock). He was decisive and he was accurate, delivering balls with both zip and touch to just about wherever he intended to put them. There weren’t many incompletions, and two of them were balls that were batted down at the line of scrimmage. The fans in attendance had plenty to cheer about.”
McCarthy has the “zip,” although there were some strange arm strength opinions a month ago. Everyone who has watched him sling the ball in the last 15 months, however, disagrees. His problem has always been the touch he put on footballs, but you can find some sweet highlights on social media, in which he displays that skill.
Dane Muzutani of the Twin Cities Pioneer Press wrote after Saturday’s session: “It was a strong performance from McCarthy at every stage of practice. He carried himself with a ton of confidence whether he was completing passes in warmups, dialing it up in 7-on-7 drills, or commanding the offense in 11-on-11 drills. The best throw from McCarthy came in the red zone when he hit receiver Jordan Addison for a touchdown. Not only was it a perfectly placed ball by McCarthy, it was an incredible catch by Addison.”
Addison has been an explosive weapon for McCarthy, especially since Justin Jefferson’s hamstring injury surfaced. The connection the 2023 and the 2024 first-round picks have built is encouraging for the upcoming season.
Our own Kyle Joudry attended practice, and that connection was one of his major takeaways: “J.J. McCarthy isn’t a perfect passer. He is, however, a promising passer, one who looks even more promising when he’s targeting Jordan Addison. The sophomore QB found his third-year receiver on multiple occasions. What was so fascinating was the diversity of ways in which they were able to connect. There were fastballs and more layered throws. There were plays in 7-on-7 as well as in the full team drill. So, too, did they find each other in the redzone.”
There are still some occasional mistakes, of course. McCarthy is 22 years old and is still growing as a quarterback. In fact, barring any unforeseeable circumstances, he will be the league’s youngest starting quarterback in Week 1.
McCarthy had a big day after some underwhelming days from him, as well as the entire offense in the previous days. Brian Flores’ defense sent numerous offenses to hell last season, and it might even be stronger this year.
His first chance to see the field since last year’s preseason contest will come Saturday, when the Houston Texans come to U.S. Bank Stadium. It remains to be seen whether the Vikings want him out there or if holding him out makes more sense for them.
The reason for playing him is some reps in an actual game; the reason against playing him is the injury risk. If he’s playing, various other first-team players will join him on the field, one can assume.
Regardless, his first actual NFL game is scheduled for September 8th against the Chicago Bears.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.