After whatever level of flirtation with the idea of signing Aaron Rodgers, which was easy to see as head coach Kevin O'Connell running it up the chain of command as a favor to a friend, the Minnesota Vikings are full-steam ahead with J.J. McCarthy as their starting quarterback for 2025 and the foreseeable future.
Until further notice, like the eye test simply betraying the confidence, there will be a whole lot of positivity about McCarthy from Vikings' coaches, teammates, etc. But at times, there will be interesting comments that surface.
On Monday, Minnesota tight end T.J. Hockenson was on the "Green Light Podcast with Chris Long". He got to know McCarthy while the two were rehabbing knee injuries during the first part of last season, as Hockenson was in the final stages of his rehab from a torn ACL and McCarthy was in the early stages of his recovery from a meniscus tear.
The Vikings tight end had a lot to say about the young quarterback.
"J.J.'s my dog. That's my guy. Great dude, great person. I can't say enough good things about him. He wants to be great in this league, and you can tell that by his preparation. I think he's going to be incredible, and I can't wait for that to translate to Sunday.
I can't say enough good things about that guy. You're just going to have to see it when it comes around."
Minnesota Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson adds big-time buzz to the J.J. McCarthy hype train with comparison to ex-Detroit Lions QB
Prior to being acquired by the Vikings at the 2022 trade deadline, Hockenson spent the first three-and-a-half seasons of his career with the Detroit Lions. The first two seasons of that time were with Matthew Stafford as his quarterback, before Stafford was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021.
Hockenson talked about McCarthy's arm talent and made a comparison to Stafford, who has long had one of the strongest arms in the NFL.
"His arm talent is there. He's got a sick arm. I told him this the other day, I said I remember catching passes from [Matthew Stafford], and it's one of those balls, and it just zips on you.
It looks like it's not coming, but it's coming — and J.J.'s got the juice behind it where it kind of has that effect. It doesn't look like it's coming; it's a tight spiral, but it's coming. It's humming in the air."
McCarthy had a throw clocked at 61 MPH at the 2024 NFL Combine, just shy of the event record of 62 MPH, and he flashed some nice arm strength in his preseason debut last year before news of his knee injury to bring an end to his rookie season.
The arm strength comp to Stafford is lofty, but Hockenson knows of which he speaks there, and he's broadly all-in on his new quarterback.