Rookie J.J. McCarthy is in hot water. After a tough rookie year, he competes with veteran Kyler Murray for the starting spot. Yet, one NFL executive sees a way through.

“My glass is half-full with J.J. McCarthy. He did beat the Bears on opening day, throwing two touchdown passes. He’s young, he’s somewhat inexperienced. I did a couple of his games for ESPN radio. The game needs to slow down for him; that only happens with experience,” said former NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum on Monday’s edition of ESPN’s Get Up.

Last season was anything but smooth for J.J. McCarthy. The Vikings quarterback struggled for consistency, finishing with 1,632 passing yards and 11 touchdowns in 10 games. However, a move could work out. We've seen it before.

“We’ve seen Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith, and Sam Darnold sometimes take their second or third team for everything to click. I’m still bullish on J.J. long-term,”

Baker Mayfield was cast aside by the Browns for Deshaun Watson, bounced between Carolina and the Rams, and eventually found stability in Tampa Bay.

Sam Darnold followed a similar path. Written off by the Jets and Panthers, he resurrected his career in Minnesota, posting a 14-3 record and landing a $100.5 million payday from the Seahawks.

Geno Smith shares a similar story. He was cut by the Jets after a bad performance, and after that, he served as a backup for multiple teams before he found a home with the Seattle Seahawks, where he won Comeback Player of the Year back in 2022, and a contract extension.

Tannenbaum believes that the same kind of revival can happen with J.J McCarthy. There are rumors of a trade making the rounds. With Kyler Murray on the squad, a starting job may not materialize.

That said, the young quarterback has made it clear he wants to stay and is already making changes this year.

J.J. McCarthy Showing Noticeable Growth in Vikings Camp

With the quarterback battle heating up in the Vikings' camp, all eyes are on J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray. However, as the offseason progresses, ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler reports that the team is happy with McCarthy’s progress.

“The Vikings asked him to fix some things, including his ability to layer the ball, throw at different speeds. I’m told he’s addressed it in a major way, and it has shown,” said Fowler on ESPN's NFL Live as per Vikings Wire.

Despite outside skepticism, the Vikings are showing confidence in J.J. McCarthy's abilities to perform better this season. On Top of that, as per The Athletic, Murray has looked uncomfortable at times

“Everything here revolves around the quarterback, and the most notable aspect of workouts was Murray's progression in head coach Kevin O'Connell's system. The Vikings didn't dumb down the complexity for Murray. If anything, the team installed the full breadth of concepts and play calls to challenge Murray. He looked uncomfortable at times,” writes Alec Lewis of The Athletic.

What are your thoughts on J.J. McCarthy?

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Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar