Quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s trade to the Giants on Monday was at the same time inevitable and shocking.
It was clear the La Grange Park native was out of the Vikings’ plans when they decided to make Carson Wentz their second-string quarterback to begin the season — and their starter in Week 2 against the Bears.
Still, trading the former No. 10 overall pick after he made just 10 starts is a shocking admission of a pick gone wrong. A year and two weeks ago, McCarthy made his first NFL start after being sidelined a year with a knee injury. He rallied the Vikings to a win against the Bears at Soldier Field and was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week.
He’s still young. At 23, McCarthy is five months younger than Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss, who is considered one of the top passing prospects in the college game. Who gives up on that? And who does it for a fifth-round pick, the NFL equivalent of pocket change?
Monday’s trade was the latest indignity for the 2024 first-round quarterback class, which can boast Caleb Williams’ Week 1 highlight reel, Falcons quarterback Michael Penix’s standout season debut Thursday — and little else.
Williams pulled his hamstring last week and didn’t play Monday night against the Eagles. He wasn’t put on injured reserve before the game, though, which means the Bears expect him to return within the next three weeks. The Week 5 game in Green Bay seems more likely of a target than Sunday against the Jets.
Williams played the best game of his career in Week 1 and one of the worst in Week 2. He’s still in better position than most of his classmates.
There was a time when the class had the potential to be one of the greatest ever. That time? The end of the last regular season.
Maye, the third pick of the draft, finished as the MVP regular-season runner-up last year.
Since then, he’s committed 15 turnovers dating to the start of last season’s playoffs. He has one touchdown pass and six interceptions this season. In the Patriots’ loss to the Jaguars on Sunday, he fumbled the ball without being hit, saying the team’s center made the ball bloody — and slippery.
He has a 58.6 passer rating this season, 31st out of all qualifying quarterbacks in a sport with 32 teams.
“I can’t get out of my own way, personally,” he told reporters Sunday.
The Commanders’ Jayden Daniels, the second pick of the draft, dislocated his left elbow in Week 2. It marked the second time in four weeks, dating to last year, he dislocated the same elbow. He’s played just nine games in the past two seasons — and finished four of them. The Commanders didn’t put him on IR, hoping that he can return soon. But how will the team protect his elbow?
Former No. 12 pick Bo Nix, who quarterbacked the Broncos to the AFC championship game last year — which he missed due to injury, paving the way for Maye to advance — has a passer rating of 80.3 this season, which ranks 27th. He’s thrown four touchdowns and three interceptions.
The Falcons had lost their first two games by a combined 38 points when Penix, their surprise No. 8 selection, returned to face the lost-in-the-woods Packers last week. He went 18-for-25 for 257 yards and a 101.4 passer rating, giving hope to the Falcons — and a grateful nation, which has to watch them in prime time for each of the next two weeks.
And then there’s McCarthy, whose career never launched despite having quarterback guru Kevin O’Connell as his head coach. His next opportunity will come with former Bears head coach Matt Nagy, the offensive coordinator for the Giants. When that happens is anybody’s guess. Giants head coach John Harbaugh — whose brother Jim coached McCarthy at Michigan — said that he’ll be the second- or third-stringer as he learns the team’s offense. Jameis Winston, who has a 55.6 passer rating, will “be the starter for as long as I can see into the future,” Harbaugh said. That’s far from a glowing endorsement.
McCarthy didn’t demand a trade. Vikings general manager Nolan Teasley said the team decided trading him for best for the franchise.
“You have to recognize when a different situation or a new opportunity presents itself that it has the opportunity to present better outcomes,” he said.
After not being spotted by reporters at any point during or after practice last week at Halas Hall, Williams spent Monday night in a matching navy hoodie, sweatpants and cap with the Bear face on the front.
Whenever he returns from injury, he’ll have the fate of the Bears riding on his right arm — and right hamstring.
He’ll have the reputation of his draft class riding on him, too.