Vikings Exec on “Unfair” J.J. McCarthy Criticism and MIN’s QB Competition
J.J. McCarthy is in a different spot now than when he first got added to the Minnesota Vikings roughly two years ago.
Chosen at No. 10 in the 2024 NFL Draft, Mr. McCarthy is now facing long odds to remain as the starting passer. All he needed to do last season was to become a game manager. Too often, McCarthy failed to even be pretty good, but that hasn’t stopped leading Vikings exec Rob Brzezinski from describing his situation as being “unfair.”
J.J. McCarthy, The Vikings Exec, & The Franchise QB
Still only 23, McCarthy has a ton of football ahead of him.
Talent isn’t the issue. Neither is a work ethic or his level of care. McCarthy puts in the hours, consistently attacking his profession in an exemplary manner. What’s been discouraging, though, is the amount of injuries that have hindered his progress. So far, there has been lost time due to a knee injury, ankle injury, concussion, and wrist injury.
These injuries have combined to make things pretty tough for McCarthy. Unfair, even.
Check out how Brzezinski described the situation: “I know Coach O’Connell has talked a lot about J.J. McCarthy, and we have the utmost confidence in J.J. He’s been through some adversity […] Sometimes, I just feel like people are a little bit unfair to him.” Not long afterwards, there’s some chatter about how the health problems “hopefully [can] be in his rear view mirror.”
“J.J.’s got everything it takes to be successful in this league,” Brzezinski declared to finish off his answer. That was in a conversation at the end of February with Paul Allen and Pete Bercich.
Brzezinski balances his sense that the NFL hasn’t been fair to McCarthy with the reality that rallying around McCarthy alone isn’t good enough.
Tatum Everett asks about the moves at quarterback, leading to the executive’s elation articulation: “I don’t think we could be any happier with our quarterback room,” Brzezinski said at the end of March. “To bring in a talent like Kyler Murray, I don’t even know, that speaks for itself.” He then describes the Carson Wentz deal as being “sneaky” and “really exciting.”
McCarthy and Max Brosmer get looped in, but they’re in a very different spot due to the presence of Mr. Murray. McCarthy is most likely going to be a backup. Brosmer is most likely going to be cut, possibly with a spot on the practice squad.
Over the long term, the Vikings would benefit greatly from J.J. McCarthy being the starter.
He’s under team control for two more seasons. Afterwards, there’s a 5th-year option that Minnesota will need to decide on (decision time is next offseason). So, too, is there an option to apply the franchise tag, a pricey option but one that comes with the benefit of team control.
In Minnesota’s ideal world, J.J. McCarthy will see the unfair circumstances he has been put in for what they are: a relentless NFL that slows down for nobody. His response is to keep fixing his mechanics, building up his body, and then charging directly at the QB1 job.
Rising to the occasion, as cliché as it sounds, is what’s now demanded of the third-year player.
