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.

[pattersaur]

CAN I GET AN AMEN

[medaille]

The Vikings need someone who can get the job done in 2026. We’re no longer at the point where we can wait 2 more years.

While I don’t think JJM really needs that much competition for competition’s sake, I don’t think we really want anyone to feel like they just get the job because of how much we spent to get them.

I kind of see us potentially adding two QBs. I think we could see something like this:
• JJM
• Trade a 5th for Anthony Richardson
• Bring in a veteran QB like Derek Carr or whoever is not a shit ton of money.
• Keep Brosmer

I think this would give you two kind of high ceiling guys and a high floor guy, and you probably move Brosmer to practice squad once we get out of camp and have to trim the roster down.

Also what keeps teams from hiring 20 NFL rejects for like $40k each and just have them there to help their developmental QBs actually develop. I don’t really understand why QB1 gets all the reps, and development kind of stops for QB2/3 once the season starts, when they could just hire some low cost guys that aren’t on the roster to help them get more reps.

[MaroonBells]

No fan of Souhan, but he’s not wrong. The Vikings do need to continue developing McCarthy, regardless of who they bring in. And I’m sure that’s their intention. Part of their thinking may be that just the threat of a competition could unleash JJ’s well-known intensity and unrelenting drive to get better, compelling him to work his ass off in the offseason.

But Souhan’s not right either. He completely ignores the consequences of NOT bringing in capable competition, as we, god forbid, watch JJ get hurt AGAIN or simply not improve to the degree we need him to. Whether Souhan likes it or not, that IS a distinct possibility. Unlike Souhan, KOC is in no position to ignore those consequences. They include testing Justin Jefferson’s patience another year and wasting prime years of a very good roster. Jobs are on the line.

So sure, bring in Cousins or Jimmy G, if those are his flavors of choice. But he says this like it’s some kind of radical idea no one has thought about.

[StickierBuns]

I kind of see us potentially adding two QBs.  I think we could see something like this:
• JJM
• Trade a 5th for Anthony Richardson
• Bring in a veteran QB like Derek Carr or whoever is not a shit ton of money.
• Keep Brosmer

I think this would give you two kind of high ceiling guys and a high floor guy, and you probably move Brosmer to practice squad once we get out of camp and have to trim the roster down.

Also what keeps teams from hiring 20 NFL rejects for like $40k each and just have them there to help their developmental QBs actually develop.  I don’t really understand why QB1 gets all the reps, and development kind of stops for QB2/3 once the season starts, when they could just hire some low cost guys that aren’t on the roster to help them get more reps.

I'm not sure in what parallel NFL universe this would ever, ever happen. IMO its makes little sense in so many ways.

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 They include testing Justin Jefferson’s patience another year and wasting prime years of a very good roster. Jobs are on the line.

So sure, bring in Cousins or Jimmy G, if those are his flavors of choice. But he says this like it’s some kind of radical idea no one has thought about.

The Vikings won 9 games last year, .5 out of a playoff spot and just 2 behind the NFCN leader...who they should've beaten twice. If Jefferson wants to win a Superbowl, patience is what he's going to need, lol. Who are we signing this year at QB to come and win a Superbowl?? THIS year? Nobody. So why wouldn't you invest in McCarthy? I mean, IMO, there can be other nuances to the strategy but the main point should be exactly what Souhan lays out. I mean some seem to feel apparently that the Vikings won 9 games despite JJ, lol. 6-4 as a starter. How many game winning drives?

[greediron]

I'm not sure in what parallel NFL universe this would ever, ever happen. IMO its makes little sense in so many ways.

---

The Vikings won 9 games last year, .5 out of a playoff spot and just 2 behind the NFCN leader...who they should've beaten twice. If Jefferson wants to win a Superbowl, patience is what he's going to need, lol. Who are we signing this year at QB to come and win a Superbowl?? THIS year? Nobody. So why wouldn't you invest in McCarthy? I mean, IMO, there can be other nuances to the strategy but the main point should be exactly what Souhan lays out. I mean some seem to feel apparently that the Vikings won 9 games despite JJ, lol. 6-4 as a starter. How many game winning drives?

Once KOC got out of his head, JJ looked like what we all hoped for.  He has the grit/moxie for the position, has the talent and just needs some seasoning.

[StickierBuns]

Once KOC got out of his head, JJ looked like what we all hoped for.  He has the grit/moxie for the position, has the talent and just needs some seasoning.

This^. Once somebody dropped 'mechanics' out of his vocabulary, JJ played a bunch better. Save the mechanics lessons for offseason, like I'm sure he's doing right now in California with John Beck.