It's no secret that J.J. McCarthy has had his fair share of struggles since the Minnesota Vikings took him with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 draft. For starters, of course, he missed his entire rookie campaign after it was discovered that he'd suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee following his first preseason game, thus making him the first quarterback ever taken in the opening round to miss his rookie season due to injury. The 22-year-old also missed five games this season after suffering a high-ankle sprain in a Week 2 loss to fellow 2024 first-rounder Michael Penix Jr. and the Atlanta Falcons.
In the five games in which he has appeared, McCarthy certainly hasn't put together the most impressive-looking stat line, completing just 52.9 percent of his passes while averaging only 168.4 passing yards per game. And while he's thrown six touchdown passes, also adding another pair of scores on the ground, the Michigan alum has also tossed eight interceptions, good for a tie for the seventh-most in the NFL.
It's not as if McCarthy hasn't shown flashes of brilliance, naturally starting with his ridiculous fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears in Week 1, in which he threw for two touchdowns and ran in another in leading the Vikes to a wild 27-24 comeback victory. He also threw for a pair of scores and again ran in another in his first game back from injury to lead Minnesota to a Week 9 win over the Detroit Lions.
Even this past week, on the Vikings' final offensive drive of their rematch with Chicago, McCarthy completed six of eight passes for 76 yards, including his final five consecutively, with the last going to Jordan Addison for a 15-yard touchdown that gave Minnesota a one-point lead with under a minute to go. The Bears, of course, came back to steal a 19-17 victory, but it was an impressive drive nonetheless.
But even with these flashes, there are still plenty of pundits and fans alike who aren't sold on McCarthy being the future of this franchise, given his lack of consistency from an overall standpoint. Some have even called for him to be benched now in favor of undrafted rookie Max Brosmer, which seems a little rash. But this is the world we live in.
Even with just five professional starts under his belt, McCarthy is seemingly expected to be what Sam Darnold was for the Vikings a season ago, which really isn't fair to McCarthy, as Darnold, who was also a first-round pick back in 2018, needed six years and three teams before he had the best campaign of his career in year seven with Minnesota. But again, this is the world we live in, one in which every first-round pick, particularly at the quarterback position, is basically expected to come in and play perfect football, which just isn't reasonable.
Now, the comparison I'm about to make might also seem unfair, but if McCarthy, who is certainly aware that his play needs to improve—and the Vikings as a whole and Minnesota fans, for that matter—ever need a reminder that patience pays off, they can all look to Peyton Manning's first year with the Indianapolis Colts.
For those unaware, Manning, who was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1998 draft and went on to win two Super Bowls and a record five NFL MVPs, went just 3-13, completed only 56.7 percent of his passes, and set a new rookie record (not the good kind) by tossing a league-leading 28 interceptions. And just for kicks, let's go ahead and compare the Hall of Famer's first five starts to McCarthy's.
Stat | J.J. McCarthy | Peyton Manning |
|---|---|---|
Record | 2-3 | 1-4 |
Pass Comp-Att | 74-140 | 93-169 |
Comp% | 52.9 | 55.0 |
Pass Yards | 842 | 1,129 |
Pass TDs | 6 | 4 |
Interceptions | 8 | 12 |
Passer Rating | 61.7 | 54.1 |
Rush Yards | 110 | 33 |
Rush TDs | 2 | 0 |
Pretty close, right? Sure, Manning had much more yardage, but he also threw 29 more passes. And yet, he still didn't throw as many touchdowns. One could say those extra passes contributed to him throwing more interceptions, but it needs to be noted that 11 of the 12 came in his first four games, so that argument wouldn't hold up.
Again, this might not seem like a fair comparison, as nobody is expecting McCarthy to be Manning, who came into the league with high expectations and is easily one of the greatest quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen. But that's kinda the point here.
Manning did come into the league with astronomical expectations, given the family history with his father and everything he'd done at the collegiate level at Tennessee, which included a runner-up finish in the Heisman Trophy vote in his final year with the Vols in 1997. And even he had a rough go of it early on. Now, imagine if the Colts had just given up on him after such a challenging rookie campaign, or even those first five starts. So, McCarthy simply needs more time.
It's obviously frustrating for the Vikings right now, given the success this team had last year. And if McCarthy continues to struggle down the stretch this season, perhaps Minnesota will bring in some veteran competition to motivate him in training camp next year. But for now, McCarthy just needs more reps. He's putting in the practice time to get better, and even if this season may feel like a lost one, his getting those reps that will help him down the line. Pulling the plug now would be a monumental mistake, just as it would have been for the Colts back in the day.