There’s a J.J. McCarthy picture that has piqued ample interest.
The sophomore passer pulled off a tremendous comeback win in Chicago. Doing so meant pushing his Vikings up to 1-0 while overcoming a divisional foe on Monday Night Football (and on the road). Notably, the game-sealing score involved the young quarterback keeping the ball for himself, scampering for a score as he led his team to a win.
The J.J. McCarthy Picture in a Thousand Words
So much of the offseason focus was to take the burden of winning off of the 22-year-old’s shoulders.
Quarterback is the single most consequential position for the modern NFL. The Vikings sought to combat — or at least slowdown — that reality. Basically, offer McCarthy a pile of support to give him what’s needed to succeed. Coming off a (forced) redshirt year, McCarthy would enter the game with a great understanding of the scheme alongside a loaded roster. Success should — should — follow.
What has taken place has been a mixed bag.
The Week 1 magic was fantastic stuff. After playing horrible football for three quarters, J.J. McCarthy turned into a new man. There was a fastball to Justin Jefferson for a score alongside a changeup to Aaron Jones. Most impressive was the rushing score.
Go ahead and scroll back up to the top photo (or keep working downward where the picture has been inserted yet again). What do you see?
A fired up J.J. McCarthy is leading his team. Behind him are tremendous veterans such as right tackle Brian O’Neill, wide receiver Justin Jefferson, and tight end T.J. Hockenson. So, too, does one see other veterans such as right guard Will Fries and backup offensive tackle Justin Skule. All following behind the quarterback who just made the best play of the game.
Consider some of the analysis of the moment from TVG, a (free) Substack from yours truly: “J.J. McCarthy is tasked with reading a specific player on the Bears’ defense. More specifically, I believe he is watching #55, the defensive end who is lined up across from Brian O’Neill and T.J. Hockenson. After all, neither of O’Neill nor Hockenson make much of an effort to block the defender. Instead, Minnesota gives #55 two options before ensuring that whichever one gets chosen ends up being incorrect.”
Further: “In pursuing that potential solution to the possible Mason run, the Bears defender unwittingly falls into a trap. McCarthy correctly reads the assigned defender, making that assigned defender wrong in the process. From there, watch T.J. Hockenson and Brian O’Neill go to work. The tight end pushes #9 back while the RT seals off #49. McCarthy can see those blocks, plug the details into his internal GPS, and scamper into green grass before his strong finish for the score.”
In Week 2, the Vikings didn’t get similar brilliance. No late-game heroics came to the rescue of what was a very poor performance, the kind of effort one would expect out of someone chosen at No. 210 instead of No. 10.
These past several weeks have involved seeing Carson Wentz as the starter, a trend that appeared likely to continue during the Week 7 practices. McCarthy has been travelling on a positive trajectory within his injury recovery but isn’t yet at full health. So, let the veteran — Mr. Wentz, who has a bad shoulder — take on the Eagles before flipping things back to McCarthy.
Kevin Seifert of ESPN accurately assessed Minnesota’s rationale: “Biggest takeaway from J.J. McCarthy’s presser is that he acknowledges his right ankle is not 100% yet. He also said he received a recovery timeframe via second opinions of up to 6 weeks. Not great signs for him playing this week.”
Consider how Dustin Baker discussed things recently: “Sans two games to start the 2025 season, McCarthy will have missed about a year and half of his rookie development due to injuries, and that’s just not acceptable or sustainable.”
Baker again: “At some point, the Vikings must rip the band-aid off and evaluate McCarthy in 2025. Depending on the rest of the season, Minnesota could have a reasonably high draft pick next April, and if McCarthy is habitually hurt, well, the franchise may have to ponder an additional rookie passer in 2026.”
So far, the NFL hasn’t been fair to J.J. McCarthy. The young quarterback has been hurt quite a lot, hindering his ability to get onto the field to prove capable of being the franchise passer the Vikings dreamed of developing when they hopped up to snag him in the 2024 draft.
The brutal truth, however, is that McCarthy does need to do more. The “more” can only arrive once healthy, but that’s nevertheless the reality: the kid has a lot to prove as the cluster of critics grows longer.
Fulfilling his potential will mean more moments like the one from Week 1. The McCarthy picture shows a quarterback who is leading his team. Expecting McCarthy to be that player so early in his career isn’t ideal, but it’s where the Vikings find themselves as a result of playing football in the NFL.
The best quarterbacks lead a team to wins. J.J. McCarthy must show that he can replicate what he did in his first ever game. Not every win will be so dramatic, but the idea that reaches out of that picture drives home the point that the time is (very nearly) now for #9.
