NFL Insider Tom Pelissero on Whether or Not Vikings Regret Drafting JJ McCarthy | Rich Eisen Show

Are are the Vikings really evalu re-evaluating JJ McCarthy already? I mean, so many rumors abound that there’s remorse already that they’ve already, you know, that they’ve evaluated enough from him already. What are you hearing there in Minnesota about what’s happening at the quarterback spot now that it’s obviously laser focused with them visiting Sam Darnold this weekend? Tom, I would definitely not categorize it as remorse. uh regarding JJ McCarthy, he’s still and everything I’m about to say is not making excuses for JJ McCarthy or saying that he’s played better than he actually has. He’s made six NFL starts. He is a guy who missed every rep in his first year. He missed the bulk of the first half of his second year with an injury and now he’s sidelined in all likelihood a third time and we’ll see an undrafted rookie Max Brosmer uh starting against the Seahawks on Sunday. you know, after the season, I have no doubt that, you know, between Kevin O’Connell, Quaciodofensa, and others, and they’ve probably already thought through some of these things. You’ll, you know, you’ll do an autopsy of sorts on the 2025 season. The biggest question, it’s never been, why didn’t they try to retain those guys? They made an offer to Sam Darnold. They just weren’t willing to do the type of multi-year commitment because they wanted JJ McCarthy to be able to step in. They tried on Daniel Jones. Daniel Jones ultimately decided his better chance to earn a long-term starting job was Indie in Indianapolis. They at least thought about when Aaron Rodgers brought up the idea of coming, but again, bringing in an Aaron Rogers, even on a one-year deal, you’re effectively saying we’re never going to bench him, meaning JJ McCarthy’s opportunity is being pushed further out. And when you’re doing the calculus in terms of your resource management, in terms of your cap allocation, you want to utilize that rookie quarterback window sooner than later. And you look at the moves that they made in this off season. You go and you sign two defensive tackles and you sign two interior offensive linemen. He wanted to get tougher on both fronts. If you give Sam Darnold, what did he get in Seattle? Three years and 100 million. I think it makes it harder to make some of those moves. That’s why teams try to take advantage of the rookie quarterback window. To this point, it has not worked out. And there are a multitude of reasons for that. It’s the injuries. It’s, you know, J.J. McCarthy’s had a lot going on in his life going all the way back to week two coming off the rally in Chicago in the opener and everyone being fired up and short week his his son is born. He misses some practice, doesn’t play well, and then gets hurt. Um, you know, there’s so many things the young quarterbacks have to do to have success in the NFL and it’s hard when you just don’t have the opportunity uh to stack those reps. I I fully anticipate and it’s already happening that they’re going to evaluate everything in terms of the quarterback position moving forward. But it’s not as if certainly not anyone I’ve talked to is sitting there going this was a failure. Why did we ever draft him? It’s more this has been really really challenging uh out of the gate. And as much as you know you saw JJ early in that game, I was there at Lambeau Field on Sunday. The first couple of drives he was making accurate throws. He was getting Justin Jefferson involved. That game really flipped on a weird muffed punt fiasco that totally changed the game and gave the Packers a padded lead that turned loose Micah Parsons and everything else. But then, yeah, you look in the second half, JJ’s dropping back, trying to make things happen. He’s he’s missing throws. He’s throwing into double coverage. That’s kind of been the pattern, which is the good has been pretty good. The Detroit game was good. Baltimore had its moments. Obviously, the fourth quarter against Chicago, but putting together a full game, the bad has just been so bad that it’s really hard. And statistically, right now, JJ McCarthy is one of the least efficient quarterbacks in the entire NFL. Hey, you made it all the way to the end. Thanks for that. Check us out every single day streaming live on Disney Plus and the ESPN app 12 to 3 Eastern.

NFL Insider Tom Pelissero and Rich Eisen discuss the Minnesota Vikings’ commitment to struggling 2nd-year QB JJ McCarthy.

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29 comments

  2. Isnt it funny that McVay's OCs and DCs poached can't do well after 1 season yet McVay is getting better and more creative? KOC is exposed after last year. Raheem Morris can't even have 1 good year. They think it's so easy to be HC?

  4. The most mind boggling thing about people that believed in JJ McCarthy coming out was the defense of his high draft stock. The main pro he had coming out of college was "Good athlete, we don't know if he can be an actually good QB and do NFL stuff, but we haven't seen him NOT do it right??" Like no one could defend JJ McCarthy as a top prospect without mentioning that he was a pretty good athlete and that he made a play when they needed him to, even though they didn't ask him to almost ever. Like how is that a plus?

  6. There’s an easy way for JJM to stop getting criticized, play like an average nfl qb. Even slightly below average would suffice. The only things people who like JJM can say about his bad play are excuses. He’s too young, he’s too inexperienced, he doesn’t have a healthy offensive line…blah blah blah. He’s only played 6 games because his body hasn’t held up. It’s not as if the vikings just benched him for more than a season. How old do you need to be or how many games do you need to play to stop missing throws by 10 yards? Most high draft pick qb’s come in with a terrible roster. He inherited a very good roster including an all-pro wide receiver and a coach who was coach of the year. Name a young qb drafted before him who had a better situation than he does recently? He still might be good in the future but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s played historically bad this year. Stop making excuses for him.

  7. The feeling coming out of Eagan, MN right now is not good. KOC seems to be in a Grinch-like mood always. It's starting to feel like KOC maybe didn't want JJ but Kwesi talked him into it. He doesn't seem to get along with JJ. During KOC's Monday presser it felt like he was lying about JJ going into the concussion protocol. It didn't feel sincere when he gave that information. Time will tell if JJ is an NFL QB or not but as of this moment – us Vikings fans are just tired of watching BAD football. Feels like "Nine" got left behind in Detroit after that win against the Lions.

  9. There was an easy way to do this. Franchise tag Darnold for one more season to see if he was for real, or if he would turn back into a pumpkin. You really think Sam Darnold would have been upset to get paid 30+ million dollars to pass to Justin Jefferson and those weapons in Minnesota? If he played well again, he'd have gotten his 5-year 265 million deal with the Vikings or somewhere else.

  12. Pelissero is one of the few journalists that seems to have an accurate understanding of the Vikings circumstances, and context of their QB situation. So much panic and pure ignorant BS just being parroted out there.

  16. Tom says that the Vikings tried to get Donald they tried to get Daniel Jones no they did not they gave them take it or leave it offers there was absolutely no negotiation

  17. Okay, but they built a Win Now team with the most expensive roster in the league and then put a rookie in as QB with no backup plan. They played Carson Wentz right into IR and now are starting an undrafted FA to face… Sam Darnold. I can't wait to see him light up this defense on Sunday because the Vikings braintrust boneheaded their way to this.

  24. Dump the chump! Nothing more annoying than a punk acting like he is a superstar FB player before he has even proven to be one! RE needs to get a back bone and an iron heart and stop defending and protecting these loser players like he is their father!

  25. I think he needs more time to figure out things before we can call him a bust. I as a Vikings fan will wait and see what he looks like after next season. I hope the team will get him some competition in the off season for the starting job. It might be something he needs to help him improve.

  27. Geez man he’s played 6 games out of 29 maybe 30 after this week. Of course they regret it. Can’t plan for injury but now you know he’s not going to be good or stay healthy so don’t waste next season too. Missed a pick, it happens.

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