We all saw It Monday night. The whole country saw It. We had heard about It the last couple years. Jim Harbaugh said It was there. Scouts did too. Kevin O’Connell said It was there and so did pretty much every Vikings’ player, old and new, to a man. But for many fans and pundits, something more tangible was desired in a first-round quarterback. A Big Arm. Explosive, big-play mobility. Off-platform magic. Never mind that the Greatest Of All Time had none of the above. But he had It and that was the factor that mattered most.
J.J. McCarthy is not Tom Brady and has none of his professional accomplishments, but they are alike as both have the It factor. Pretty much everyone that has followed or scouted McCarthy has brought up his intangibles, his leadership, and other ephemeral qualities like he’s a winner. The reply from critical thinking scouts and pundits is, “that’s great, but his college tape is a little light and he never carried his team at Michigan.” Moreover, lots of quarterbacks won a lot of games in college, but that didn’t make them winners in the NFL.
There is still room for skepticism after McCarthy’s fourth quarter comeback against the Bears Monday night, after all he struggled most of the game and his stats while impressive in terms of touchdowns for a quarterback debut, were hardly earth-shattering otherwise. Only 143 passing yards. However, a more detailed review of McCarthy’s performance revealed few mistakes by the quarterback in his debut. Blame for lackluster production fell largely to receivers not getting open, running poor routes and/or slipping. Justin Jefferson took the blame for McCarthy’s pick six, saying he ran his route too short- something Kurt Warner picked up on beforehand in his assessment of McCarthy’s performance. Jefferson running his out route two steps short allowed the Bears cornerback to get an early break on the ball leading to an easy pick. Add 2-3 drops between Jefferson and Adam Thielen as well and McCarthy’s debut looks pretty solid stat-wise too.
Conferring the It Factor
It may seem way too soon to confer the It Factor on J.J. McCarthy. After all, Kirk Cousins managed to rally from a poor performance a few times in his career and nobody ever considered him to have the It Factor. But it’s not just on field performance that yields the It Factor. Off-field performance in how you conduct yourself, the relationships you build with teammates, how you communicate on the sideline and in the locker room and overall personality also contributes to building the It Factor. McCarthy has been building that since being drafted, and developed his reputation in college to the degree where no other quarterback drafted in recent memory had quite the reputation for intangibles as McCarthy had coming out.
All that left McCarthy’s teammates and those that know him best unsurprised by his debut performance. But as Troy Aikman mentioned during the Monday night broadcast, McCarthy’s teammates will look at him a little differently this week in practice. A few of those players will remember past Vikings quarterback’s struggles in prime time- all of them more experienced than McCarthy- and notice the difference that comes with the It Factor.
What ‘It’ Means Going Forward
It will take more time and success for the Vikings to realize the full benefits of the It Factor, which can eventually grow to be an intimidating presence that presents a distinct advantage, but for now the Vikings having a quarterback who knows how to win provides a psychological boost for players. Devin McCourty, who was skeptical about McCarthy, acknowledged his showing the It Factor on Monday night in an interview on PFT, and what a difference it made for him and his Patriots’ teammates in their dynasty with Tom Brady. Having Brady at quarterback gave the Patriots the added belief in themselves to overcome any deficit and win any game, knowing they had a quarterback who could deliver in crunch time. The Vikings in recent years have cultivated this belief under Kevin O’Connell, but the addition of McCarthy takes it up a notch. That may eventually result in a quarterback that is able to raise the level of performance of those around him as Brady and Patrick Mahomes have done.
There will be some ups and downs with McCarthy going forward as can be expected in a young quarterback, but those are likely to be viewed from the perspective of a quarterback who may rise to be one of the best rather than a quarterback who might be a bust.
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