There you have it. The end of the J.J. McCarthy Era in Minnesota after he was traded to the Giants. We will always have that MNF game to open the season in 2025.
After this play I thought we had our franchise QB and were going to win multiple Super Bowl’s. Fast forward and McCarthy became the laughing stock of the league with his legendary “9” comments followed by the infamous 9 meme after the Lions game.
Like almost every Vikings starting quarterback in my adult lifetime, McCarthy was a polarizing figure. Half the fan base loved him and thought we should continue to develop him. The other half thought he was an all-time bust and one of the worst 1st round QB’s taken in NFL history. And with any polarizing QB comes takes. Not just any takes, but delusional takes and Vikings twitter was full of them today after the news broke of the trade.
Here’s the simple reality. JJ McCarthy was not a good starting quarterback. There is a laundry list of evidence that supports it. His completion percentage was 57% ranking dead last for first round rookies since 2010. His expected points added ranked 851 out of 852 of all QB’s dating back to 2000. He missed 24 of the possible 34 games he could have started (70% !!!!!!) in the 2+ years he was here. His passer rating was one of the worst of all QB’s in the last 5 years. The Vikings ranked 29th in total offense and 31st in passing yards per game during McCarthy’s 10 starts. Yet you scroll twitter and a portion of the fanbase would make you think we just traded the second coming of Joe Montana for peanuts.
LOL!
Conveniently loops McCarthy in with Cousins and Darnold who actually could move the ball and score points under KOC. Not to mention Thor was banging the table from the Vikings to move on from Darnold so McCarthy could get his shot.
Another fake narrative from fans that live on a different planet or must have been watching different Vikings games than the rest of us last year. If McCarthy was good in camp, he wouldn’t have been QB3. Full stop.
Did people forget plays like this?
Not to mention all the overthrows. But but… The drops! Even if you account for drops last year the Vikings offense still rated as one of the worst in the NFL. J.J. McCarthy is a bust. There’s really nothing more to it than that yet here people are baffled by the decision.
There’s so many more I could share. The point is the Vikings got the pick wrong and decided to cut bait early. If you want to put this as a strike on KOC, who certainly deserves blame, I won’t stop you. But don’t pretend McCarthy ever going to be successful here.
Now as for as the rest of this season goes the Vikings are going to roll with Kyler Murray the rest of the way. The Vikings believe that Kyler Murray will play better than he did yesterday. He might not, but the odds that the Vikings can go on a deep playoff run and be considered a legit contender is so much higher with Murray than it is McCarthy. Thinking otherwise is straight up delusion. The track record, upside, and raw talent all favor Kyler. How it all shakes out in 2026 is TBD.
The good news for now is that the Vikings are 3-0 and have some favorable games up ahead. With McCarthy gone hopefully everyone can just enjoy the ride and get behind Kyler. Even if you’re a Mcarthy stan and have an IQ of 10.
Bring on the Dolphins this weekend. Until then SKOL VIKES and JUST WIN MN!
