J.J. McCarthy, Vikings aren’t bashful discussing his next phase of QB development – The Athletic
EAGAN, Minn. — Golf is Kevin O’Connell’s preferred analogy. Because the sport is easy to conceptualize, the Minnesota Vikings head coach uses golf to explain what is required to play quarterback successfully.
It is one thing, O’Connell has said, for an amateur to hit an iron straight. Professionals are expected to do more. Different shots call for different trajectories and angles. Executing them requires an almost intuitive feel.
This brings us to J.J. McCarthy, who is emerging from his second career win on the road in the NFC North. O’Connell’s review of McCarthy’s play in Sunday’s victory over the Lions was telling. He cited some specific throws: a corner route toward the left sideline, complete to receiver Jordan Addison, and finding receiver Justin Jefferson on the far hash.
“I mean, up and over a defender with touch,” O’Connell said. “I even loved the throw to Aaron Jones on the swing route: up and over, spinning pure.”
Up and over, spinning pure. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think this was a line from Jim Nantz commentating at The Masters.
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of McCarthy’s next nine games. It’s not so much that he has a chance to validate the Vikings’ decision to roll with him for the 2025 season. Sure, his performance in key moments will dictate how dangerous this team might be. But this is more about the canvas for development and what that means for the organization’s future.
Stay healthy, and McCarthy will almost certainly continue to display his athleticism. Scrambling is a significant feature of his game. He’s also likely to flash a level of arm strength that, at times, can be eye-popping.
Perhaps most interesting is the opportunity he’ll have to prove a level of repeatability. Can he maintain the same mechanics, chiseling away at excess footwork? Can he throttle down on passes outside the pocket? Can he do what the best do again and again and again?
“It becomes the consistency of not only being accurate on this throw and this throw,” O’Connell said, “but then it’s every single throw. Every single play.”
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In a perfect world, the Vikings would be further down the path of assessing McCarthy’s progress. The torn meniscus last season and the high ankle sprain this fall made for an unfortunate reality. McCarthy is making up for lost time.
But late is better than never, which is why the Vikings have not wavered. They have long believed, as O’Connell said Wednesday, that McCarthy could process enough information both in preparation and on the field. The physical component is the dynamic they’re currently working through.
It is one thing to know where the ball needs to go. It is another to place it in the right spot with the appropriate pace and layering.
That is why O’Connell spoke so much about McCarthy’s mechanics during the 22-year-old’s five-game absence. Improvements were made over that period. O’Connell and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown worked with McCarthy during the team’s bye week. Just like a golf swing, everything connects. How you align your feet matters. Posture does, too.
“Some of the things we’re working through right now with a young player, which are totally normal, are the physical side of things,” O’Connell said Wednesday. “The fact that he’s so high-capacity and capable mentally of so much is where you hope to see a young player grow within the same system for a long time.”
Although Sunday’s return was positive, growth is a process. It’s ongoing. Some advanced statistics tell the story.
Fifty-one quarterbacks have started three games in their first season since 2018. McCarthy’s bad-throw rate (23.4 percent) ranks seventh highest, according to Pro Football Reference, and his on-target rate (64.1 percent) is also a bottom-dweller among that group. Neither is a disqualifier.
For one thing, McCarthy’s sample size is minimal. For another, two of the quarterbacks who posted higher bad-throw rates were Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts.
The Allen arc is maybe the most interesting parallel. He, like McCarthy, played briefly in college. Allen attempted 649 passes at Wyoming, while McCarthy threw 713 at Michigan. Allen, like McCarthy, debuted in the NFL at age 22, working with the same coordinator (Brian Daboll) throughout his first three seasons.
Allen struggled in his first year, completing only 52.8 percent of his passes. (McCarthy is at 57.6 percent.) Because Allen applied so much torque on his arm, and because he understood his own flaws, he sought answers ahead of his second season. He has attributed much of his improvement to Chris Hess, who owns and operates a biomechanical analysis company, and who visited the Vikings’ facility multiple times last season to work with former starter Sam Darnold. Allen’s rewiring is a fascinating test case, potentially altering traditional views on what a progression can look like.
What’s McCarthy’s perspective on where he is mechanically?
“I feel like I’m growing,” he said. “That’s the No. 1 metric that I really focus on. It’s just growth. Was I better today than I was yesterday? There’s a lot of room to go and (for) growth to happen, being 22 years old.”
McCarthy also suggested Wednesday that the more reps he gets, the more chances he gets to feel the speed, the more comfortable he’ll get.
As informative an example as Allen is for the league, McCarthy will likely be another for the way we all look at and discuss quarterback development.
It’s an experiment, of sorts. How much can you change as a thrower of the football? Are you what you are, or does having a particular level of athleticism present the possibility of another drastic step forward? Furthermore, does this become more likely if you have a sharp coaching staff and a player who is going to pursue improvement at an almost maniacal level?
Hints at answers to these questions will arrive on the ensuing Sundays. It’s what makes these next nine games so enticing.
