The Minnesota Vikings have finally bitten the bullet and traded J.J. McCarthy to the New York Giants in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick. While some Vikings fans may worry he'll hit his stride as soon as he steps out of his purple and gold threads, the latest update isn't very encouraging.
According to Mike Garofolo, the Giants discussed adding McCarthy because he "can move" and operate a run-heavy offense, which is far from the pass-happy approach Minnesota wants to implement.
The sales pitch to a fan base worried about McCarthy's fit with his new team boils down to: don't worry, we're not going to ask him to throw the ball very often! If the only way for an offense to work around a quarterback is to hand it off as much as possible, is that not a concerning sign?
New York Giants' plan for ex-Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy will never work
McCarthy is a one-man crash course in why describing a college quarterback as a "winner" when evaluating their pro potential. McCarthy lost only one game in his college career and took home a national championship, but his struggles in Minnesota laid bare how much of his college production was fool's gold.
McCarthy completed over 72% of his passes in his final year at Michigan, throwing 22 touchdowns against four interceptions. However, McCarthy only had one game in which he threw the ball more than 30 times. He had under 20 pass attempts in six of those games. Plain and simple, Michigan did not rely on McCarthy's arm to win games, and he was very rarely asked to carry them.
The Vikings seemingly thought McCarthy's efficiency would stay largely unchanged once they put more on his plate, while supplementing his development with a solid offensive line and a tremendous menagerie of skill-position players. Instead, his arm was not up to the task of leading an NFL team.
McCarthy's mobility fits an offense built around Jaxson Dart
McCarthy has a decent arm for the NFL, but quarterbacks rarely get to make throws in pristine pockets to open receivers, which is almost exclusively what McCarthy did during his time at Michigan. His lack of great physical tools and size may limit him from evolving beyond a backup in New York.
McCarthy can move a little, and a Giants team that has clearly built most of its offense around Dart's mobility can reel off some big plays with McCarthy under center. The comparison ends when one observes that Jaxson Dart has been miles better than McCarthy as a passer, even with limited talent around him.
The Giants seem to be acknowledging that they traded for nothing more than a backup who is at his best when he can hand the ball off and watch superior athletes around him. At least the Giants didn't invest a Top 10 pick in him before finding that out.
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