Rooted in him consistently declaring himself as Sam Darnold's No. 1 fan, Colin Cowherd of FOX Sports has never had anything good to say about Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Sometimes, as can be common with him on almost any topic, Cowherd has stretched into offering nonsense or a level of double-standard to criticize McCarthy.
Which isn't to say McCarthy hasn't deserved criticism, because he absolutely has earned some after a rough first season as the Vikings' starting quarterback. But Cowherd said everything he said before McCarthy made his first career start, with only last year's OTAs and one preseason game to go on.
Fast-forward to now. All indications are that, as has been inevitable all along, Kyler Murray will be named the Vikings' starting quarterback. The sooner it happens, the better, but head coach Kevin O'Connell is sure to try to stretch out the "competition" for as long as he can.
With the inevitability he will be the Vikings' QB2 entering the season, and questions about how he'd handle that, McCarthy's future in Minnesota has an undeniable layer of doubt.
Colin Cowherd took easy opportunity for a J.J. McCarthy victory lap
In light of the buzz out of Vikings' training camp, citing observations from ESPN's Ben Solak during his visit to the TCO Performance Center, Cowherd talked about McCarthy on the Aug. 6 episode of "The Herd."
"At this point, with three years in the bag, McCarthy should be pulling away, or at least at this point, first weekend (of training camp), be ahead,” Cowherd said. “And my take is quarterback play in the NFL, especially for young quarterbacks, it’s a lot like comedy."
"The more you have to explain the joke, the less funny the joke is ... If you got to keep telling me how good a quarterback is, oh, he is getting his footing, he is viable, he’s getting there, he is on the right track. If you gotta keep trying to convince me a guy is good, he’s not good.”
Cowherd then recalled a text he got about McCarthy two years ago from a source he has. It's unclear whether he has received a more recent update from said source, which would actually be relevant to the current conversation, but Cowherd went with his narrative anyway.
"The text I got from an absolutely unimpeachable source, somebody that has been perfect, he’s never led me astray, was the J.J. McCarthy situation in Minnesota is not good,” Cowherd said. “So the truth is simple: The more words you add to the truth, the more I think it’s BS."
"And Minnesota’s trying to convince me, oh, this joke is funny, this quarterback’s viable. Stop. I’m looking at the numbers. As a starter in the NFL, J.J. McCarthy is last in completion percentage, passer rating, and TD-to-interception ratio. Last.”
How much the Vikings are really trying to convince anyone McCarthy is a viable starting-caliber quarterback at this point can be debated, though the general lean would be toward they're not. But Cowherd never lets what's actually happening interfere with the full heat of a take, so he had to add "the Vikings are trying to convince me he's good, and I don't buy it" to complete his criticism of McCarthy.
Cowherd's running criticism of McCarthy now has some actual evidence to back it up. It's also totally on-brand that he took the opportunity for a "pat myself on the back" victory lap, as the Vikings get closer to naming a starting quarterback.
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