During a recent episode of his creatively titled podcast "The Colin Cowherd Podcast", FOX Sports' Colin Cowherd couldn't resist the urge to bash Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy when the opportunity presented itself.
"J.J. McCarthy is a 'C' quarterback. You ever see J.J. McCarthy's fourth quarter college stats, and playing from behind fourth quarter stats, in college with Michigan and [Jim] Harbaugh and that O-line?
They're terrible."
Not sure where Cowherd is getting his information, but during McCarthy's final season at Michigan, he completed 70.6 percent of his passes for 293 yards (8.6 per attempt), one touchdown, and no interceptions on 34 pass attempts in the fourth quarter of games, and when the Wolverines were trailing in 2023, the current Vikings quarterback completed 74.1 percent of his throws for 301 yards, two touchdowns, and no picks on 27 pass attempts.
Colin Cowherd's obsession with Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy is now at an uncomfortable level
Cowherd's recent jab at McCarthy definitely wasn't the first time he's shared his true feelings about the young Minnesota quarterback.
In June, the longtime radio host went on a rant on his FS1 show "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" about how McCarthy doesn't have an impressive arm.
"Go read the [scouting reports], he doesn't have a big arm. He does not have a big arm. His arm is considered modest. It is a middle-of-the-pack arm, middle-of-the-pack escapability. In fact, they question his release. His release, at times, can be a little plodding."
Well, the 60-yard touchdown pass McCarthy threw to Jordan Addison during Minnesota's first full-team training camp practice on Wednesday certainly doesn't seem to favor Cowherd's argument.
This puzzling rant came after an initial one in May, when he also shared his lack of faith in McCarthy.
"I am a skeptic. First of all, he played for a college team known for a run game and defense. He was not asked to win games. He was asked not to lose them.
He's got a modest arm, he's marginally athletic, and again, he's going into a very good division, and [the Vikings] seriously considered re-signing Sam Darnold."
This is stating the obvious, but it's clear that Cowherd is not a fan of McCarthy, and this is completely fine. However, his continuation to include false information in his his criticisms of the second-year Vikings quarterback completely invalidates any opinion he has of him.
Why Cowherd has gone so hard in the paint against McCarthy is anyone's guess, but it could potentially be due to Minnesota's decision not to re-sign Sam Darnold earlier this year.
The FOX Sports host has a long documented history of essentially being in love with everything about Darnold and thinking he's the next great Hall of Fame quarterback. So, certainly seems possible that whoever the Vikings decided to pick over Darnold was going to feel the wrath of Cowherd, regardless, and McCarthy is just the lucky guy to get that privilege.
Again, it's fine that Cowherd doesn't think McCarthy is a good quarterback. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We get it.
But Cowherd continually stating over and over again that McCarthy doesn't have a strong arm and his athleticism is mediocre at best is what has people bothered about his opinions of the quarterback.
This is the problem with national sports analysts and broadcasters in general, though. Cowherd has to be able to talk about almost every team from every professional sports league, and it results in his takes being watered down and, at times, completely wrong.
If Cowherd wanted to bring legit, valid stats to the table that back up his arguments about McCarthy, then that would be one thing. But he hasn't, and it's resulted in his credibility falling even deeper down the drain than it already was.