Whatever anyone's thoughts are about J.J. McCarthy and his future, one thing is for certain. The Minnesota Vikings miscalculated his readiness to be a starting-caliber NFL quarterback coming off losing his entire rookie season to a knee injury.
Last offseason was clearly about committing to McCarthy and being aggressive in free agency to bolster the roster. Any other starting quarterback options, from Sam Darnold to Daniel Jones to Aaron Rodgers, were never realistic for one reason or another.
Head coach Kevin O'Connell has openly talked about fixing issues with McCarthy's mechanics, which have been obvious during games. That process also requires practice reps he hasn't been able to get for a big chunk of his career thus far.
Questions about O'Connell's ability to develop a young quarterback are out there now, and they will be out there until further notice. Getting McCarthy on track will be a feather in his cap, and if things go the other way, ...well, that goes without saying.
ESPN analyst questions how Kevin O'Connell has handled Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy
On last Sunday's edition of ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown", analyst and former NFL linebacker Tedy Bruschi turned a conversation about the Vikings and their quarterback situation in another direction.
“In my opinion, Kevin O’Connell calculatedly sold out the quarterback that they decided to keep, and that was J.J. McCarthy. Because, when you’re talking about which way your foot’s pointing, your base, your leg kick, Kevin let everyone inside to what he was thinking about his very own first-round pick quarterback, and the guy who is going to be his quarterback for the next ten years.
This is what’s wrong with this kid, and this is why I can’t coach this kid. This is why the cement’s not drying. These aren’t my words. This is what Kevin O’Connell said.
What I take those comments as is maybe Kevin O’Connell wasn’t happy with the whole decision too, because we obviously know what the fundamental problems are with J.J. McCarthy as a quarterback.”
O'Connell selling out McCarthy, like Bruschi thinks he has, would be the epitome of sabotaging his reputation as a "quarterback whisperer."
But it's also plausible that O'Connell wanted to retain Darnold or Jones as a fallback in case McCarthy was not deemed ready to start. Those guys both found better opportunities elsewhere, and Rodgers was never really an option despite his friendship with O'Connell.
At minimum, acquiring a veteran backup for McCarthy should have been far more of a priority, and it didn't seem to be a priority at all.
As aggressively as Bruschi's opinion lands, it would be a signal of something more troubling if there's any grain of truth to it.
Maybe O'Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah were not quite on the same page when it came to the overall plan at quarterback for this season, and O'Connell simply kept the peace by fully committing to McCarthy from the outset.