The Minnesota Vikings are coming off a blowout/shutout win over the Washington Commanders in which J.J. McCarthy played his best game so far. That didn't seem to matter, however, when it came to Garrett Podell of CBS Sports' quarterback rankings following the Week 15 slate of games.
The Vikings quarterback ranked dead last, which is exactly where he was ranked last week as well.
"McCarthy had the best start of his young career in a 31-0 win over the Washington Commanders: 163 yards and three touchdown passes on 16 of 23 passing. However, he still has a long way to go as he ranks dead last in the NFL in completion percentage (56%), touchdown-to-interception ratio (9-10, 0.9) and passer rating (67.4) this season among 34 qualified quarterbacks. (No change)"
This is embarrassing enough on its own, but to make matters worse, Philip Rivers is even ranked ahead of McCarthy here, and he literally just signed with the Colts on Tuesday after being out of the league for five years. Rivers is also 44 years old, and, again, he hasn't taken an NFL snap since the 2020 season. That guy is ranked higher than McCarthy. Oof.
J.J. McCarthy gets humiliated in quarterback rankings even after a Minnesota Vikings shutout win
This isn't a great look for the Vikings quarterback, but a key thing to remember here is that McCarthy has made just seven starts in his NFL career. It doesn't help his case that the other four quarterbacks drafted in the first round of the 2024 draft have all turned out to be decent, but not all quarterbacks are built that way, where they can step in and immediately make a positive impact.
The hope is that McCarthy can look more like the guy who threw three touchdowns and zero interceptions this past weekend against the Commanders rather than the one who threw for under 100 yards and two picks against Green Bay two weeks prior. He has another month to show us which quarterback he's more likely to be.
This ranking certainly isn't promising for J.J. McCarthy and the Minnesota Vikings, but it's one person's opinion on his current state in the league. McCarthy still has time in his young career to flip the script on all of his doubters and prove he's better than the last-place ranking given to him in these quarterback rankings. It is time to prove the haters wrong.