Strib: JJM needs support more than competition

[StickierBuns]

https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-vi.../601589059

Jim Souhan
@SouhanStrib

1h
Souhan: "J.J. McCarthy doesn’t need competition. He needs to be the Vikings’ top priority"

[purplefaithful]

This week we learned that Kevin O’Connell is a master of the time-space continuum, and that ESPN will be linking Aaron Rodgers and the Vikings in 2527, when AI Adam Schefter will be claiming that the Virtual Vikings are considering signing AI Rodgers to help them win their first Intergalactic Bowl.

Asked at the NFL scouting combine if he considers J.J. McCarthy a franchise quarterback, O’Connell said, “A lot of those feelings are still the same. It’s just the timeline is in a different place for all of us than it was [in 2024].”

Yes. The timeline has advanced two years. To 2026. Thanks for the update.

O’Connell, the Vikings head coach, usually lets you know what he’s thinking, even while trying to avoid creating national headlines. What do his latest comments mean? That he doesn’t want to give up on McCarthy, but he doesn’t want to be completely dependent on McCarthy, either.

In that light, I’d like to discuss Sam Darnold.

Darnold is the reigning Super Bowl champion quarterback and a warning to any team eager to give up on a talented first-round draft pick.

You could tell he was headed for postseason glory by the way he performed in his last four regular-season games for the Seattle Seahawks.

In those four games, he produced seven touchdowns (rushing and passing combined) and two interceptions while completing 64% of his passes. He ran 14 times for 61 yards and was sacked seven times as his team went 4-0.

Sorry to deceive you.

Those are McCarthy’s stats over his last four regular-season games.

Darnold’s numbers over the same span: Three total touchdowns, three interceptions, 16 rushes for 23 yards, 10 sacks, a completion percentage of 67 and a 4-0 record.

Darnold had the better offensive line, running game and overall roster, yet McCarthy outperformed him down the stretch. And if the Vikings had hired a better backup quarterback, McCarthy probably would have started a playoff game in his first season as an NFL starter.

The more I look at McCarthy’s body of work, the more I see late-season improvement, high-end talent and a quarterback who, like Darnold, should not be cast aside because of early-career struggles.

The more I look at these numbers, the more I think the Vikings should be in search of the best possible backup quarterback, not someone who will “compete with” McCarthy for the starting job.

McCarthy doesn’t need internal competition. He needs to be the Vikings’ top priority.

Another McCarthy moment I can’t look away from: If the Vikings had tackled the Bears’ kickoff returner on Nov. 16 at U.S. Bank Stadium, the Vikings would have made the playoffs, and McCarthy would have been credited with another fourth-quarter comeback victory. He also would have finished the season 5-1 against the NFC North, including a sweep of the division champion Bears.

If the Vikings gave up on McCarthy right now, they’d go into the draft hoping to find a winning quarterback with arm strength and mobility. 

They’d be looking for someone like McCarthy, circa 2024.

Remember, the overriding theme of NFL analysis over the last two seasons has been that teams fail young quarterbacks more often than young quarterbacks fail teams. That ditching a talented young quarterback can be an act of self-destruction.

I like young McCarthy more than I liked young Sam Darnold, or young Bryce Young, or young Mac Jones, or young Baker Mayfield.

As the Vikings enter free agency and draft season and decide how to fill out their quarterback room, I hope they do nothing that could slow the progress of their own promising young quarterback.

Forget Aaron Rodgers, who hasn’t won a playoff game since 2021 and will turn 43 in December.

Sign Kirk Cousins or Jimmy Garoppolo as a backup who would win games if called upon, then get to work on making McCarthy the player he can be.

[StickierBuns]

This week we learned that Kevin O’Connell is a master of the time-space continuum, and that ESPN will be linking Aaron Rodgers and the Vikings in 2527, when AI Adam Schefter will be claiming that the Virtual Vikings are considering signing AI Rodgers to help them win their first Intergalactic Bowl.

Asked at the NFL scouting combine if he considers J.J. McCarthy a franchise quarterback, O’Connell said, “A lot of those feelings are still the same. It’s just the timeline is in a different place for all of us than it was [in 2024].”

Yes. The timeline has advanced two years. To 2026. Thanks for the update.

O’Connell, the Vikings head coach, usually lets you know what he’s thinking, even while trying to avoid creating national headlines. What do his latest comments mean? That he doesn’t want to give up on McCarthy, but he doesn’t want to be completely dependent on McCarthy, either.

In that light, I’d like to discuss Sam Darnold.

Darnold is the reigning Super Bowl champion quarterback and a warning to any team eager to give up on a talented first-round draft pick.

You could tell he was headed for postseason glory by the way he performed in his last four regular-season games for the Seattle Seahawks.

In those four games, he produced seven touchdowns (rushing and passing combined) and two interceptions while completing 64% of his passes. He ran 14 times for 61 yards and was sacked seven times as his team went 4-0.

Sorry to deceive you.

Those are McCarthy’s stats over his last four regular-season games.

Darnold’s numbers over the same span: Three total touchdowns, three interceptions, 16 rushes for 23 yards, 10 sacks, a completion percentage of 67 and a 4-0 record.

Darnold had the better offensive line, running game and overall roster, yet McCarthy outperformed him down the stretch. And if the Vikings had hired a better backup quarterback, McCarthy probably would have started a playoff game in his first season as an NFL starter.

The more I look at McCarthy’s body of work, the more I see late-season improvement, high-end talent and a quarterback who, like Darnold, should not be cast aside because of early-career struggles.

The more I look at these numbers, the more I think the Vikings should be in search of the best possible backup quarterback, not someone who will “compete with” McCarthy for the starting job.

McCarthy doesn’t need internal competition. He needs to be the Vikings’ top priority.

Another McCarthy moment I can’t look away from: If the Vikings had tackled the Bears’ kickoff returner on Nov. 16 at U.S. Bank Stadium, the Vikings would have made the playoffs, and McCarthy would have been credited with another fourth-quarter comeback victory. He also would have finished the season 5-1 against the NFC North, including a sweep of the division champion Bears.

If the Vikings gave up on McCarthy right now, they’d go into the draft hoping to find a winning quarterback with arm strength and mobility. 

They’d be looking for someone like McCarthy, circa 2024.

Remember, the overriding theme of NFL analysis over the last two seasons has been that teams fail young quarterbacks more often than young quarterbacks fail teams. That ditching a talented young quarterback can be an act of self-destruction.

I like young McCarthy more than I liked young Sam Darnold, or young Bryce Young, or young Mac Jones, or young Baker Mayfield.

As the Vikings enter free agency and draft season and decide how to fill out their quarterback room, I hope they do nothing that could slow the progress of their own promising young quarterback.

Forget Aaron Rodgers, who hasn’t won a playoff game since 2021 and will turn 43 in December.

Sign Kirk Cousins or Jimmy Garoppolo as a backup who would win games if called upon, then get to work on making McCarthy the player he can be.

Oooooeee, Jim out here whippin' some ass! Laying down some logic. Not all curmudgeons built the same way apparently.

[dadevike]

Shore up the C position and OL backups (and hope the starters stay mostly healthy). Give JJ a little time and I believe he will win. I still think he is a winner. It does not matter whether he wins by passing for 300 yards or 150 yards and 2 running TDs. Who cares? He wins.