Unless Matthew Stafford stumbles off a cliff, the Los Angeles Rams won’t be in the market for a new quarterback anytime soon. However, whenever the need for a new signal caller arrives, could J.J. McCarthy one day become Sean McVay’s next QB reclamation project?
It’s entirely possible, as McCarthy has had a rough start to his NFL career. Through five starts with the Vikings, the Michigan product is 2-3 as a starter with a 6-to-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio and has completed 53% of his passes, the worst mark in the league. Six QBs were taken in the first 12 picks of the 2024 draft, and fair or not, McCarthy is quickly pulling away as the worst of the bunch.
It also doesn’t help that already, he is getting compared to another Minnesota bust.
Now, it’s much too early to begin with the Christian Ponder comparisons or any other infamous NFL draft busts. Remember, Josh Allen wasn’t the Josh Allen that Tony Romo thirsts over on a given Sunday. Buffalo was one of the rare teams willing to give him multiple seasons to adjust to the pros. For whatever reason, most teams expect franchise-saving game changers right off the bat, when that rarely ever happens.
Patience when it pertains to quarterback play is seemingly nonexistent across the league. There are a few franchises that have done it right over the years, like the Bills, Chiefs and Packers. You’d think that Minnesota would be up there, given the work Kevin O’Connell did with Sam Darnold last season. There seems to be a disconnect between KOC and McCarthy, which is why the duo hasn’t found its footing.
Quarterback development is a delicate balance, since you want the guy to do everything possible to succeed immediately, but you also cannot do anything to wreck his confidence. Right now, McCarthy seems to have happy feet in the pocket, which would explain his alarming rate of off-balance and inaccurate passes. Take, for instance, his most recent game against the Bears. Several passes sailed over the receivers’ heads, illustrating his struggles perfectly.
What I see in these clips is a guy who needs to return to the bench for further development. Yet, that is essentially a death sentence for a former first-rounder who already had little playing time in the NFL. You cannot learn very much from the bench, and McCarthy would benefit from more playing time. But if he shows no progress, a la Anthony Richardson, you’re caught in quite the pickle.
Letting Darnold walk was the smart move at the time for Minnesota because they needed to see what they had in McCarthy. Failing to bring in stronger competition for him was a massive misstep on their part, and now the Vikings are paying for it.
Assuming McCarthy fails to catch on in Minnesota, L.A. could be a quality option for him to consider. McVay and KOC run similar offensive schemes, so it wouldn’t be that much of a jump for him. Seeing McVay’s early work developing Jared Goff and later Baker Mayfield shows that he has the magic touch when it comes to bringing out a quarterback’s best.
Would McVay have the patience to unleash “Nine” fully? Time will tell there, but how the Vikings handle McCarthy will be something to monitor as we inch closer to the end of the Stafford era in Hollywood.
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