Is J.J. McCarthy Improving At All?
So, now that we have at least a handful of JJ McCarthy’s games, are we actually seeing development week over week, or is this just going to go down as another lost year? Welcome to the Locked On Vikings podcast. You are Locked On Vikings, your daily Minnesota Vikings podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Hello. Well, hello everybody and welcome to the Locked On Vikings podcast where we’re always trying to learn something new. It’s part of the Locked On podcast network, which thanks to everydayers like yourself, is the number one sports podcast network. Thank you all so very much. Happy Veterans Day and thank you all for your service for those of you that applies to. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Today on the show is Town Hall Tuesday. That means I’m answering your questions as submitted to me via the Google doc in the for in the show notes and also you have confessed some hot takes to me and I will anonymously read them out. First question comes from Hello Luke. Hi. Who says uh you’ve made it clear that we shouldn’t expect inseason improvement on J.J. McCarthy’s throwing mechanics, but it seems like many of his misses are related to where he’s trying to throw the ball as much as how effective he is at getting there. How can we tell the difference between how quickly we should expect improvement on stuff like you have to lead your receiver more because he’s faster in the NFL? Um, look, I I would have to say that like if you really wanted to come up with like a an expectation, you would have to go through like other quarterbacks that started out inaccurate but got more accurate as their careers went on. I’m thinking about like Jordan Love or Josh Allen and then look at how it progressed. and you have to like just like go start pulling up some 2018 Bills tape and like really dive in, which is not something that I’m going to do. Um, but what I can probably say is like with each game, you want to see it feel like it wasn’t as bad as last time. So, for example, right in the game against the Lions, there were a lot of errant throws. And I feel like against the Ravens, there were still errant throws. And I feel like by volume, there were fewer. Um, and I I don’t know, maybe you could check me on that statistically, but it doesn’t feel like we’ve gone backwards, like it got even worse or anything like that. It feels like we’re um, you know, he he still is maybe getting a little too amped, skying a few of them, but it happened, I think, like the same amount of times with a lot more reps, which feels like that could be improvement. You just want to feel even if it’s the tiniest little incremental improvement, it’s only arguably an improvement at all. You just need something and that th those days stack over time because remember we’re in a long-term thing. We don’t need to see every issue get fixed right away. This is a a thing that is going to take a while. You just need to see that they are marching toward the right direction. Just have your compass pointing the right way. Um Tom Cruz Haidker Jr. says, “What did you think of McCarthy’s throwing form on the deep ball to Naylor down the left sideline on the first drive? Did it look improved compared to what you’ve previously noticed from him on those throws? And in general, is there growing evidence of consistent improvements in his mechanics? So, what I will say, I’m going to get to this more in the next question. Um, because really the beginning of the game mechanically was a lot different than the end of the game, but put a pin in that. Um, that pass I thought was very nice mechanically. uh the way his hips like rotate, locked up at just the right spot. They over rotated a little, but nothing to write home about and and the ball flew pretty true. And I think that I can probably say that about all of the times where McCarthy was like truly playing well at the end of the Bears game, the first couple drives of the Lions game, like the the moments we’ve had where he was really just hum, the mechanics looked pretty good. And when you can have him in that mode of um that kind of calm, collected, just you know, focus on the mech, you can really it’s I’m it’s starting to become really evident why Okonnell’s like pared phrase has been like he’s got to just work through his mechanics and make sure that he focuses on producing via his mechanics. if he focuses on his mechanics, if his mechanics are good, then he’s, you know, going to be able to everything else will kind of come from that. And and I think that’s a pretty apt description of where we’re at with with McCarthy. When he is calmly doing those things, right, and his hips aren’t coming through as much and he’s stepping into the throws rather than kind of jumping. when he’s not just trying to whip throws with as much arm strength as he possibly possibly possibly can, then the the offense is moving quite a bit better than when he kind of backslides into those old habits. But that brings me to the next question which comes from the 14-yd line that tackle Danny Dimes who says, “In a tweet from Arie, he shares a graph showing J.J. McCarthy’s cumulative EPA per playbyplay number. He essentially starts off strong then drops off as the game goes on. Is this primarily because he tends to revert to his more natural flawed mechanics or are there other factors? So I mostly I think is because of what you said. Um and this is actually something that Arif had in his Lions game recap uh and kind of did that cumulative EPA thing and then saw that hey you started really hot and then things kind of evened out and ended up below average and it basically followed the exact same pattern in the Ravens game. And what’s happened in both of these games is pretty much that. Yeah. like when you’re on in those first couple drives and the game there’s a lot of game left. It’s a little bit calmer. The plays are scripted. Um it’s a little bit easier for him to just go through what he’s supposed to do and kind of be a robot. You almost need to inject a little bit of that Kurt Cousins roboticness into his brain and just be a robot and then things kind of follow through naturally the way that they’re supposed to be. as the games have gone on and both of these games have been tight and they’ve been hard fought and they’ve there have been moments where you need a score here, you need a first down here, um that’s when McCarthy has gotten really skittish. That’s where he’s starting to take extra hitches, extra steps, extra drifty steps that take him off of his launch pad or off his launch spot. Um like I I I would hesitate to use the phrase happy feet, but we’re not that far from that because happy feet to me means something a little different. It means um that your feet aren’t like together, but uh overactive feet and that leads to some things. Um but that’s just like in the pocket jitters because this game is getting away from you, right? Uh and then just trying to whip stuff way too hard and then he sails them high. That’s a lot of what it is. Um he’s actually like so when you throw a deep ball, you want to kind of your shoulders so that the the like your shoulder angle gets a little bit more of a high trajectory so you can get that ball farther. Um, and he’s doing that on on throws that just do not need that. And then and then he’s whipping them as far as he possibly can. So instead of getting a little height on it and a little bit of touchy rainbow to it, he’s just firing that thing up into the moon and like that’s not that that ends up, you know, sailing over Justin Jefferson’s head even though he’s wide open. That kind of thing. Um, but but really to me, and it’s it’s hard to psychoanalyze this, and I’m never all the way confident in it, but to me, after watching McCarthy, and I made the whole Patreon video on it, by the way, patreon.com/loopon NFL. It’s two hours long. It took me two hours to get through everything. I went through 37 plays. He dropped back 42 times, so it’s almost all of the times he dropped back. Um, and in a lot of detail. So, if you got the time to go check that out, you can find that at patreon.combrandella. After doing all of that, it’s really difficult for me not to just look at this and say, “Man, he just kind of fell apart when the going got tough mentally.” Just mentally totally lost his rhythm. He lost focus. He lost control maybe is the best way. Um, and and he lost his temperament and he just kind of started trying to hoop and it didn’t work. Um, he he was not ready to do that. he doesn’t have the well-honed, experienced instincts you need to just kind of say, “Whatever, I’m going to just decide I’m going to be Baker Mayfield about this.” Um, and that that just that just didn’t materialize at all and it led to his worst plays. So, for me, the next priority after the false start embarrassment, um, which I will probably get to tomorrow, I found it kind of fascinating actually to look into why those happened and we can learn a lot about snap counts together. But outside of fixing that because that can never happen again. I think the biggest priority long-term for this year for McCarthy is getting him through 60 minutes without losing his head because I don’t think that that’s happened yet. Eric the Red asks, “Could you explain what the offensive coordinator, specifically Wes Phillips, is responsible for during the game? I’m curious if anyone is in KO’s ear suggesting it’s okay to run the ball more than once per drive.” Um, okay. So, with West Phillips, his job throughout the week is he the way I’ve described it is he prepares the menu that Kevin Oonnell is ordering off of on game day. They don’t bring their entire 900 playbook, right? Um, Wes Phillips is the one designing things. Sometimes you’re adding stuff to that playbook on the fly that then gets installed in the week, coming up with the game plan and saying, “These are the plays we need to have access to.” And then Kevin, you go do what you got to do. You you pick them as much as you want. Um, in game day, a lot of the like assistant coaches will just kind of be like in the head coach’s ear saying, “Hey, I think we should do this. Hey, do what do you think about that?” They’re watching for stuff. they’re going, “Dude, they’re go they’re lining up too high every time if we run this.” Um, you know, that’s going to happen, especially when they’re up in the booth and they’ve got a better vantage point than what you can see on the sideline. That can be like part of it as well. And sometimes you give them an operational role. The strength coach is a sideline getback guy. um which kind of famously came up in I want to say the Bengals game when Isaiah Rogers had a had a uh pick one of his touchdowns, you know, the the the strength guy being the get back guy. They all have their like little jobs on the sideline. Um but that is not typically reported on so I don’t really know. Um I’ve got a lot more questions. Plenty more about JJ McCarthy, some about Jefferson defense, uh and even alter egos. That’ll all be next on Locked on Vikings. Today’s episode of Lockdown Vikings is brought to you by Rippling. If you are a business owner, you’ve probably already realized the truth that software as a service is not actually the service that you ever wished that it was. The average company is buried by a bunch of apps that slow down your teams. They don’t work together. You got to go to this app to get your HR. You got to go to this app for this schedule. You got to go to this app if you want to submit an IT ticket. And it is all just this big disorganized mess. Rippling is a unified platform for global HR, payroll, IT, and finance all in one place. They’ve helped mill they’ve helped millions of businesses replace a mess of disconnected tools with one system designed to give leaders clarity, speed, and control. Whether you want to run your entire HR, IT, and finance operations as one or just fill the gaps in your software stack, Rippling can do it all by uniting your team, employees, teams, and departments under one system and removing those bottlenecks, all the busy work, and all of the silos that your software created. Right now, you can get six months free when you go to rippling.com/lockedonfl. Learn more at rippl.com/lockton NFL. That’s rippling.com/lockdon NFL for 6 months free. Terms and conditions apply. Today’s episode is also brought to you by FanDuel, America’s number one sports book. And if you want to get started with FanDuel right now, it’s a great time. The NBA season is young. The NFL season is in full throat. You can even combine things across. For example, you can combine the Vikings, who are now three-point favorites at home over the Bears with perhaps the Timberwolves who in their next game with a Timberwolves money line of your choice or a Nazreed fourth quarter bet. You can do all of this in the middle of a game if you’re feeling a fourth quarter comeback or if you’re not feeling a fourth quarter comeback. You can put all that stuff together and even put a bunch of them together in a live same game parlay to try to up your winnings. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Moving on with the Lockdown Vikings podcast. Thank you so much for making Lockdown Vikings your first listen of the day. And don’t forget to check out my Patreon page at patreon.com/lock/lukebrun NFL. Uh that’s where you can find just about any play you were curious about from the nice deep one to Naylor to the interceptions to the one that should have been an interception but it was just barely dropped at the end to t the touchdown pass at the end and even the two-minute debacle that finished the game. All of that is there. The next question comes from 90% mental Minnesota who asks, “Would Naylor’s big day be an indicator that JJ is going through his progressions and wouldn’t that be a good thing?” Hard to believe that he’s the first read on any play call. Um, so I would caution you because on these play calls, who you have running what route is decided kind of in a group when you come out and like if if you have a play where the first read is coming out of the slot and you have that be Justin Jefferson because you always want Justin Jefferson to be the first read. Well, now they know the first read is coming out of the slot and they can adjust their defense accordingly. So you every time you come out in that formation and you have Justin Jefferson in the slot, you can’t move him to wherever the first read is. It’s a tell. So you have to have him in the slot and then somebody else is on the outside. And if you want to run a play that has the outside receiver as the first read and Justin Jefferson as the third, you just do it. So while I’m sure if you tallied it all up, Jefferson would be the first read far more often, Naylor is the first read sometimes. That said, yes, J.J. McCarthy is absolutely going through his progressions. And in the interest of positivity, um, the way that like there are plays where he goes 1 2 3 4 5 all the way across the field or plays where he gets from his 1 to his two to his three. I’ve got some issues sometimes with how he makes the decision to throw a a pass or to progress from it. I think that he’s made the wrong decision a lot, but he’s like doing what he’s supposed to do. he’s he’s do making those mistakes within the structure of the play and then it’s just a matter of hey why didn’t you throw that and or or why did you throw that and and then trying to see if his reasoning makes sense or if it needs correcting um but I don’t think like his reads are rushed a little bit and then at the end you know emotionally he loses his mind but I don’t think that we are really seeing a quarterback who is struggling too much mentally maybe you could argue that he’s got too much on his plate pre- snap and has made some bad decisions pre- snap, but he is capable of operating those levers. Like, he can run the machine. He’s just making bad choices with the machine, but he knows how to use it. He knows how to fly the plane. He’s just got to he’s flying it on the wrong route sometimes. And that’s a much better problem to have than somebody who’s just completely overwhelmed and doesn’t know how to do the thing. But the false starts kind of go in that latter category a little bit where, you know, you don’t necessarily know how to set your guys up for success. We’ll get to it. I don’t have time today. put a pin in it. I promise there’s going to be a Patreon video at least. Uh, the next question comes from Sam, who asks, “Analysts talk about how coaches need to make life easier for the QB and build confidence, especially for young QBs. Between all the pre-nap motions, deep shots, and not running in short yardage situations, it seems like KOC is making things harder for McCarthy. Why is this?” So, here’s going to be a tough cell for a lot of people, but he trusts JJ McCarthy. He has been pretty vocal since drafting J.J. McCarthy and in the trust that he has in JJ McCarthy. Now, you you may have lost sight of that amidst all the noise and rumors and crap that went on in the offseason and even this season, but if you you can’t really find a moment where Kevin O’Connell like falters on it. Maybe he didn’t answer the question the way the reporters wanted to, but he never said, “I don’t know if I trust this kid.” and he has always placed that trust in uh and his actions have backed that up. Maybe too much. He I think he just has too much faith in a 22-year-old that maybe needs a little bit of a ramp up and maybe needs a little bit of training wheels, a little bit more of training wheels than he has right now. Um, but I think Okonnell is just satisfied to just kind of let these mistakes happen and learn from them and hopefully that that’s a a faster development path than kind of putting the training wheels on him and making him do easy, boring stuff that may not be that good of offense and then hoping you can fold the stuff in later. He is kind of just saying, “Okay, drink through a fire hose and good luck and whatever you screw up, we’ll figure it out and hopefully we don’t have too big a mountain of things to fix.” And then we look up and we’re six and 10. Um Mario asks, “In regards to not spiking the ball after the long run, is KOC allowed to be in McCarthy’s ear even in hurry up?” Um yeah. So the rule is you are allowed to say whatever you want to your quarterback up to 15 seconds on the play clock. So if they can get up in 15 seconds, Kevin Oonnell can be saying right away, clock it, clock it, clock it, clock it, clock it, clock it. Is McCarthy listening to that or is he just doing his thing? Does he say, “No, no, no. I can get a play in.” Right. What my guess is is that they called two plays in that huddle so that if one was caught in bounds, they could run right up and run the second one. And McCarthy just went up and ran the second one. And I don’t know if once you realize that he’s actually going to try to get a playoff, Okonnell might not want to talk. He might want to say, “Oh, I I don’t want to mess him up and then make this thing a snafu that takes forever.” I think stuff like that could be what happens in situations like if you remember the Bears losing to the Lions on Thanksgiving last year um and how they lost where like the clock just ran to 35 seconds and it was this confusing mess. That could be because the coach is trying to talk while the quarterback is trying to call a play and then everything all gets gets all confused. Um and you know you don’t have the capability to stop it because your timeouts are precious. So maybe you wouldn’t want to. Uh, but I for me, if I’m putting myself in Kevin O’Connell’s shoes, I’m probably just saying, “Dude, just clock it. Dude, just clock it. You have to just clock after an explosive.” Um, but that’s another one of those things that’s a really easy lesson to say, “Okay, you got to clock after an explosive.” Like, you could have a 15-minute meeting with J.J. McCarthy and probably fix the false starts, the clocking an issue, and I I want to I I’ve seen too much bad situational awareness from him, and I’m very concerned about that. Um, and that feels like a more long-term thing, but the way to address that long-term thing is by using these examples and and using them as teaching moments. Um, Ryan Higgins asks, “Are you concerned with Justin Jefferson’s effort in Sunday’s game? I was at the game and it didn’t really look into the game.” Okay, look, I can’t do it. Okay, I can’t be a podcaster that’s like, I don’t think the best diver in the world is trying hard. I just can’t say that. Even if if God himself descended from the heavens and showed me the oracle and said it’s true, I still just can’t be the one to do that. It’s like I am the laziest person in this exchange. I am a podcaster. Your job is harder than mine most likely, dear listener. Um so I can’t sit here and be like covered in Cheeto dust. Look how much he’s not trying. I will say that just in the in the full just like full empiricism, he wasn’t as explosive out of his breaks in this game. Um, and he wasn’t as fast as he usually is in this game. Is that because he wasn’t trying? Is it because he was gassed? Is it because he has the flu? I’m willing to entertain all of those. Um, that’s the part I’m not going to speculate on. Maybe it’s because he was had to poop. Like, who knows? But I can’t I can’t do the the you know he’s lazy body language analysis thing. Okay. That’s for fantasy analysts that don’t have anything better to say about the sport. Gary Dude asks, “So you have an alter ego. What’s the name?” Uh it’s Banksy and you can’t prove that I’m lying. Uh we’ll get to your hot takes next here on Locked on Vikings. I’m Cody Ror from Lockdown Broncos and this episode is brought to you by Pelaton. Pelaton is shaping the future of fitness with the brand new Pelaton crossraining tread plus powered by Pelaton IQ. This is Pelaton’s most advanced equipment yet, giving you real time guidance and endless ways to move. Whether you’re running, lifting, or you’re crossraining with your favorite instructors like Alex Tucant, it’s training reimagined to make your workout more personal. Pelaton is built for breakthroughs with features that help you plan, stay motivated, and hit peak performance. You can let yourself run, lift, flex, and go while Pelaton handles all the rest. Plus, Pelaton IQ provides real time strength coaching, tracking your progress and suggesting weights that challenge you so you can get stronger. Plus, the new movement tracking camera. It counts your reps and corrects your form in real time, making sure every rep is safer and smarter. So let yourself run, lift, flex, push, and go. Explore the new Pelaton crossraining tread plus at onepelon.com. All right, moving on here with the Locked On Vikings podcast. Let’s take some hot takes. You tell me anonymously your hottest take and I will confess it to the world for you. Get it off your chest and protect your identity. First one comes from casting expert who says, “Real hot take. JJ McCarthy is a cornerback trapped in a quarterback’s role. The personality on the field, the unfounded confidence, the athletic ability. It feels like we’re missing out on a generational CB prospect.” He does have like a crazy three- cone, doesn’t he? Or am I thinking of somebody else? Didn’t he like run like great agility? Uh, you know, I think the mental makeup of quarterbacks and cornerbacks is actually kind of similar. You do have to have that short memory, that sort of delusion where when one thing happens, you can’t let it scare you out of trying it again if it’s the right thing to do. Unfortunately, I do think that there’s some example of that. Um, where, you know, McCarthy gets hurt and I think he’s a little more reticent to scramble than he used to be. He had that big long one at the end of the game, but he had a couple opportunities he maybe could have taken and just take off. Uh, and he’s maybe been a little more reticent to that. he throws an interception and and he might be a little bit shy to make that same throw in that same situation before. So, I don’t know if he can quite get to that level. Um, Indiana’s pacemaker says Kevin Oonnell winning coach of the year was the worst thing that could have happened to him. If it hadn’t pumped his tires to the tune of coach of the year and QB Whisperer, he might have taken off the purple tinted glasses and been able to see and appropriately respond to any one of his many issues. and he laid out a whole bunch of these issues, but it’s a big long thing. Uh, you know, yeah, fair, I guess. But I do think that we can still kind of I I like I don’t think him winning coach of the year is a thing that like there is an innate character flaw to that. If winning that award takes your humility away and you’re no longer able to look inward and make those changes, that’s not a problem with the award, it’s a problem with you. I would characterize that differently. Uh, but I think Okonnell getting a little bit high on his own supply in general and sort of trying to recreate what gave him success last year rather than going through the process that gave him success with all of these quarterbacks, which is so much more tailored to the quarterback is a valid critique of the season. Uh, warmtaker says, “Jay might know the playbook to the level of a secondyear player, but knowing the playbook and executed it while the bullets are flying are different things. We should treat him like a rookie.” I went into this year and you can hear I I think I answered this question like every week on these mailbags in the offseason, which is like, should we treat this as his rookie year or not? And I said, it’s got to be somewhere in between. not going to hold him to the same standard that you’re holding all the other 2024 QBs to who were in year two and need to show leaps from what they showed year one, but you’re also not going to hold him to the same standard that you’re holding like Jackson Dart and Cam Ward to where you want um you want to see a little bit more of an advanced style of play from those guys. And I think based on what little I’ve seen of the rookies this year, so I’m speaking a little out of turn on them, but it seems like a lot of their best success has been in these kind of improvised situations. Um, not necessarily making the plays in structure and stuff, but they’re cool moments and you can see the talent and I think there’s a lot of promise, at least with the two guys I mentioned, that those fan bases are rightfully excited about. Um, and with McCarthy, I think my favorite moments of his have come in structure, which I think satisfies that requirement, but like statistically, he’s just about as bad as those rookies are, and he’s well behind the rest of his peers in the class. So, I think we find that he’s closer to treat him like a rookie than he is treat him like a secondyear player. But, I always thought that the fairest thing was to treat him like a rookie plus. uh and to sort of expect that the mental side of things was going to be memorized very well because he had all the time in the world to do that. But that the physical side of things and the the temporal side of things, the actual timing, the practical effects, the physicality of mechanics that you can’t work on when you’re rehabbing a knee were all still going to be an issue. Um the false starts will continue until morale improves. Says, “My mind tells me that run pass ratio is fun to joke about in the Zimmer years.” You and I have a different definition of fun. Uh, but it really doesn’t tell us anything about the offense’s performance. My heart tells me that 48 dropbacks to 13 rushing attempts when the run game was working is patently criminal and should land somebody in prison. So, you’re going to make me do a run pass ratio thing? This sucks. Uh, you have to remember game script in this and and and Kevin Oonnell still passes more after you’ve adjusted for that. But it but it is important context to understand when you’re talking about like the degree to which this is an egregious thing. A lot of people had a point about the third and fourth in shorts and passing on all of them and having a bad success rate. That’s totally a valid critique. Uh and I I hope that he can that that Okonnell can kind of realize that you just need two yards. You know, you don’t need to do this. Although, when I did the McCarthy thing, there were a couple of times where I wonder if there was a more normal play that he canned out of because he would like can on third and two and then it would go deep. And so that might be McCarthy getting too greedy. Um, but I just don’t care about run pass ratio. All I would ask is, hey, make sure you know the context of game script and don’t take this to the bank because you the the you’re not pulling pulling a lever that says run and pass and looking back to the audience like its price is right. It’s there’s a lot more to play calling than that. And and if you want to oversimplify it to run pass ratio, you’re missing the vast majority of the game. Um, the real grim reacher. I hope that’s really Garrett Bradberry. I hope you’re still listening. Uh, who says t KOC is correct to call play pass plays and shot plays on third and short. You’re not any more likely to convert three to four consecutive first downs and you are to hit a big play when presented a favorable look like a stacked box. So, very hot take. That one might get you in trouble. I I got two things on that. One, statistically that is not the case. The case is that you are like more likely to get in scoring position by moving the chains once than you are by simply attempting to go down the field that much. Um those statistics are like extremely global. So they encompass all styles of offense and all styles of quarterback and all styles of receiver. And you might have a situation that is, you know, uniquely suited to do one thing or the other. You should be cognizant of that. Um, and the the other thing I will say is you are definitely on to something with why you would go deep on third and two. Well, because everybody’s keyed on the run, so you can do play action and that’s like the only time you’re going to get Justin Jefferson all alone on one side of the field with no safety help. So, yeah, we’re going to call that shot play. That’s maybe the best time to do it. Um, you just I think you just have to be a little bit more sparing in terms of the volume at which you are doing those things. But like in each of those individual situations, it’s justifiable because it’s a good look and that should determine your play calling more. Hey, they’re playing a lot of man coverage. We should do a switch release thing. I think we can get them here. Is a much better reason to call a pass than I no thought get more yards because it’s historically it gets more yards, right? Like that’s a much worse reason. But with O’Connell, he’s overestimating the ability that those factors have. Like, he’s just overestimating their impact like pretty severely. Um, and he’s overestimating his own offense’s ability to execute those things, especially when those things require really complicated physical execution, like specifically timed motions, specifically timed play action fake into the running back’s got to block Kyle Hamilton. That’s hard to execute. So, he’s asking a lot of his players to do difficult things in order to open up an explosive opportunity when you could ask everybody to do easy things. Get your three yards and and move the chains, then do the hard stuff on first and 10 like everybody else. Um, give me Kirkback. Goodness. Says JJ’s whole nine demon persona is so cringeworthy it’s going to destroy the locker room morale. Have you uh have you heard other what NFL players say all the time? They got like flatearthers in there, man. It’s going to be fine. Uh, Shadow says J.J. McCarthy is fine. You know, I don’t really look at him that way. Uh, but he’s just not not my type, but you do you. All right, that’s going to be it for uh this Town Hall Tuesday episode of Locked on Vikings podcast. I think I’m going to do the full start thing tomorrow, the very least on Patreon. And of course, we’ll be up to date on like news, injury reports, and stuff throughout the week. I will see you all for all that. And as always, skull
It’s easy to spiral. Is J.J. McCarthy improving, or is he just drowning? Will he ever become a better version of the quarterback he is now?
WANT MORE DAILY MINNESOTA VIKINGS CONTENT?
Join me on Patreon! https://patreon.com/lukebraunnfl
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOVikings?sid=YouTube
Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Betterhelp
This episode is sponsored by Betterhelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at https://BetterHelp.com/lockedon.
Rippling
Get Rippling FREE for 6 months. Terms and conditions apply. See site for details: https://app.rippling.com/legal/promoterms
Supply House
Join the free TradeMaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit https://SupplyHouse.com to sign up for free and use promo code SHNFL5 for 5% off your first order.
Peloton
Let yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.
PrizePicks
Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.
Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL
Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.
FanDuel
Right now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
Follow the show: @LockedOnVikings
Follow the host: @LukeBraunNFL
Submit Townhall Tuesday questions or hot takes: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeR9-FKd9K8Lso3pHFu8RqRpC8NXknqax0aGz7FTOU0Cwgu7A/viewform?usp=sharing
Sub on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU9qwCJcClgWI0JNTezBLqQ
Zoever/Under Art by KDominiqueArt
34 comments
Good morning
Morning Luke! If this isnt out there already could you do a pod on what an “NFL” style offense is in college compared to the actual NFL/ what college coaches work on developing players that still needs work or isn’t addressed at all until the pro level?
Growing pains Hurt that’s why they are called pains from growing
I think we’re barking up the wrong tree when we try to compare JJ to someone I’ve been looking at the first couple starts of Brett Favre and they look a lot alike
Can we talk about that?
I've seen quarterbacks improve before after being benched for poor play… Let's see what Bosmer can do..
Throwing 40 + passes a game should not be in the plan period.
Title is absolute rage bait right. Its been a couple games give the kid a chance.
People need to remember growth isn’t linear
Maybe read you live comments
All the ignorant Vikings fans that think Sam Darnold was the answer to the Vikings winning playoff games and think the Vikings are stupid for not signing him…Go be a Seahawks fan!
Way to early for JJ. Peyton Manning's 1st year he had 26 touchdowns and 28 interceptions. Hopefully JJ can stay healthy the rest of the year. 🙏
Every game JJ plays, he will get better, more comfortable. Give him time to download how to be an NFL quarterback.
McCarthy has had some amazing moments and pretty bad lows so far. Pretty much what I expected from a 22 year old who couldn't even take practice reps for a year. I don't know how anyone else came into this season not expecting serious growing pains.
I also find it ironic how Vikings fans are glazing Darnold, Jones and Mayfield who all struggled for years and were considered busts and yet are ready to call McCarthy a bust after four starts. And we offered Jones and Darnold contracts, we weren't going to pay as much and they didn't want to play in front of a first round pick and lose their job when or if they struggled.
If you want a franchise QB you have to develop one. It's not an instant gratification process the younger generation is used to, you can't get everything you want instantly with a button click. Give it a few years and take another swing if McCarthy is a miss. As far as the "win now" or Superbowl window, that's nonsense. If you don't suck at drafting like Kwesi you will always be competing. Aim for sustained success. And I hear people whine about wasting Jefferson's prime, guess what? Every Superbowl in the history of the NFL has been won by a team without Justin Jefferson. It's about TEAM.
Just watched Locked on Packers and the whole show was trashing LeFleur’s play calling and how they run way too much… sounds familiar 😂
People need to remember JJ’s alter ego, Nine, must grow along with JJ.
Its funny how ppl critisize jj as basicly a rookie when love plays like dogydoo in his 5th year
He's getting better for sure
Maybe if KOC had some balance and he didn't require the QB to drop back 42 times per game and wait for his WRs to get open 40 yards down the field the QB would look better. Just saying.
I am pretty convinced that JJMC is mostly responsible for the 8 False Starts; whether bad rhythm & timing or messing up words/calls etc. Either that or the entire offense was up all night bailing someone out of jail…or talking someone off of a ledge
KOC saying many illegal motion penalties were on called run plays is a head scratcher. Two things we know: 1) KOC loves passing on 3rd and short like a fat kid loves ice cream. 2) JJ McCarthy's two intercepted deep ball passes looked like he was required to spin around a baseball bat 10 times, before chucking it. Just an awful day for the offense. Time to flush it and focus on the Packers.
No. No he's not. His inability to control his velocity and accuracy is beyond alarming at this point.
JJ being asked to do too much to soon.
McCarthy is still inconsistent with his mechanics, I am sure Josh McCown can see what he does wrong on every bad throw. He needs to adjust his throws at the line of scrimmage to get the ball over the linemen, sometimes he was letting go at helmet level.
Tom Brady said when the ball sails it is because his hand is getting to far under the ball.
How can you only run 13 times against a weak run defense when you are averaging 5.5 per rush and throw 42 times when they weren't way behind.
McCarthy is coming out of his 4th game and looked bad Jordan Love was in his 51st game and he looked worse than McCarthy. Love also looked bad the week before against the Panthers looking more like the way he looked in his rookie year.
That’s what happens to rookies, that why you give them a run game to lean on and stop the yolo calls.
This kid is a bust!
20 two-year-old is fourth game in his ask.All these things to be done.Come on, let this guy reach his potential.I love the team.I love this man thank you
He's a bum.. the kind that ask you for a cigarette, you tell him it's your last one,and then he asks if you can save him a short.
He plays at college level… his passes lag behind the receivers 90% of the time.. his long passes just float up in the air waiting to be picked. Im not sure his brain is wired fast enough to play in the NFL
So far really bad. Still a very small sample….it's going to take time
If JJ is so good why aren't Vikings winning! Should have kept Sam Howell ! POMO