Second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy and the Minnesota Vikings are reeling, while the rest of the NFC North pulls away, and one rival player perfectly encapsulated the reality check that was their 23-6 loss against the Green Bay Packers in Week 12.
An offseason dedicated to building a roster that could support a young, admittedly inexperienced quarterback has not seen its efforts reciprocated.
That is not to absolve McCarthy’s teammates, but it highlights something the Vikings have not.
J.J. McCarthy Holding Vikings Back
GettyJ.J. McCarthy #9 of the Minnesota Vikings reacts against the Green Bay Packers.
“We can’t complain about a win like that,” Watson told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero after McCarthy and the Vikings’ loss to the Packers in Week 12. “I think we were dominant in all phases today.”
The Vikings traded up to select McCarthy 10th overall in the 2024 draft, making him the fifth quarterback off the board in the class.
Despite the Vikings’ best efforts to support McCarthy, he remains far behind what they need.
“The Vikings have a big problem. Their quarterback isn’t playing at an NFL level and, if anything, his performance has regressed since the start of a season dedicated to his development. With a 24.9 QBR after six starts, McCarthy is off to one of the worst career starts of any NFL quarterback in the past decade,” ESPN’s Kevin Seifert wrote on November 23.
“The Vikings aren’t 4-7 and almost certain to miss the playoffs solely because of J.J. McCarthy. But it is plainly obvious that he is the top reason. If it was apparent to those in the Vikings locker room, however, no one said it publicly.”
Seifert noted that Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell deflected blame, correctly identifying miscues from more veteran players around McCarthy that compounded the QB’s errors.
There was also support from teammates. However, Seifert still pointed back to McCarthy.
Faith in J.J. McCarthy Leaving Expensive Vikings Locker Room at Risk
GettyJ.J. McCarthy #9 of the Minnesota Vikings leaves the field after facing the Green Bay Packers.
McCarthy has completed 54.1% of his passes for 929 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He had an 87-0-2 line on 63.1% completion in Week 12 against the Packers in a game critical to keeping the Vikings in the thick of the NFC North race.
Now the Vikings are clinging to the prospects of reaching the postseason as a Wild Card team.
“Football is a team game,” Seifert wrote. “But the errors made by McCarthy and those by his teammates aren’t comparable. And that’s where the risk of locker room fractures could begin for the Vikings over the final six weeks of the regular season. The NFL’s most expensive roster at $350 million for 2025 is in the process of being sacrificed for the development of a quarterback who clearly needed more time to develop behind the scenes.
“71 quarterbacks have started at least six games over the past decade. McCarthy ranks No. 67 in QBR (25.6) and completion percentage (54.1%), No. 66 in passing yards per game (154.8), No. 52 in off-target throws (20.6%) and No. 69 in interceptions (10) when comparing their first six starts.”
Compounding matters for the Vikings, other young QBs have kept teams afloat, if not more.
Missing Out on Drake Maye Stinging Vikings
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)Drake Maye #10 of the New England Patriots warms up before a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
While they may not have had much of a chance to pull it off, since getting into a position to select him would have required cooperation from the New England Patriots, the Vikings did have significant interest in Drake Maye before the draft, per reports.
Maye, who has played at a star level this season, played for Vikings QB coach Josh McCown in high school.
Maye went No. 3 overall. The Patriots rebuffed offers from multiple teams, including the Vikings.
It is also worth remembering that New York Jets brass – a regime no longer in place, no less – laughed at the Vikings’ decision to trade up with them in 2024. Minnesota traded fourth and fifth-round selections to New York for the pick used on McCarthy, as well as a sixth-rounder.
Former head coach Robert Saleh called it “free money,” while ex-general manager Joe Douglas was noticeably excited while working through the details of the deal.
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