J.J. McCarthy Found Himself in A Trey Lance Situation

But it just so happened that you were in Minnesota yesterday and that was sort of the epicenter of the football world and everything that everyone's talking about.

Kyler Murray, as expected, has been named the starter of the Minnesota Vikings.

Let's start there and, and get your thoughts on it.

Yeah, I mean, I think the first thing is, um, you know, for Kevin O'Connell and for his staff, after what they've been through the last two years and, and, and, and more importantly what the locker room has been through the last two years, um, I think that this was, this was going to be the conclusion because I think Kyler Murray was always gonna be the best answer for 2026.

This is never gonna be about the next 3 years or the next five years.

Um, after losing Sam Darnold and losing Daniel Jones, and have both of them happen, both those guys play the way they did elsewhere.

Now, I know DJ got hurt, but, um, after both those guys played the way that they did last year, and then the quarterback being position being what it was in Minnesota in 2025, you look at the makeup of that team, and You just, they couldn't throw another season overboard in the name of quarterback development or finding out on a former first round pick.

Uh, that, that, that wouldn't be fair to Justin Jefferson or Jordan Addison or TJ Hawkinson or Christian Daria or Byron Murphy, you name it, you know, go down the list.

Andrew Van Ginkle, Blake Cashman, it's just.

You know, all those guys were part of a very good football team two years ago that I think in the moment, we all had had a legitimate chance to advance to the Super Bowl.

And so I think for, for Kevin O'Connell and his staff, they felt like they owed it to him, owed it to owed it to them to give them the best possible answer, the most important position on the field for this year, period.

End of story.

And Like, so, what they did was they, uh, they put together a quarterback room that was gonna give them multiple chances to do that.

And, you know, Kyler Murray is the guy who's got the most game experience of anybody in that quarterback room, um, who has the most recent experience and recent success of anybody in that room.

And so I think all along, we felt like he would, he would be the pick because, again, the makeup of the team is such that you need a guy who's gonna be your best answer right now.

I actually think it's sort of similar to what, like, now, when we want to go to the JJ McCarthy piece of it.

I think it's sort of similar to what happened in Tray Lance in in in San Francisco where you got drafted by a really good team and that team doesn't have time to see it through, you know what I mean like when you go to a bad team.

And that's what happens with most first-round quarterbacks.

And this is like, to me, this is the other side of getting drafted by a really good team if you're, if you're a first-round quarterback and a really and a, and a coach with, with bona fides at the quarterback position, right, right.

So like if you go to a team that's not very good, you're probably gonna get 2 or 3 years to prove it.

If you go to a team that's won recently, that's got a lot of accomplished veterans on it, you're not getting that much runway.

And, you know, I think that's what happened with Trey Lance in San Francisco, a guy who needed reps, right?

He needed to play.

And he never got those reps.

I'm not saying he would have made it otherwise because he wasn't, like he didn't do enough to win the job.

But like eventually with a team like that, it's gonna come to a point where it's like, no, you have to win the job.

It can't just be like we drafted you this high and we have to find out.

You have to win the job.

And, you know, for JJ McCarthy, I don't think Kevin O'Connell has given up on him.

Um.

I think he'd like to still work with him and develop him.

He's had a good offseason, all things considered, but this was never going to be, oh yeah, like, it's best for the Vikings in 2028 if, you know, we chase a glimmer of hope with, with JJ McCarthy.

And now this allows the Vikings.

To project instead of hope.

It's not hoping anymore.

Now they're projecting because they know what they've got in Kyler Murray.

I wanna get into a little bit of what I wrote, but this just popped into my head and so I'm just gonna throw it out here.

Um, Kwesi Adofo-Ma, the Vikings' former GM was fired in January of 2026.

So a couple of months ahead of the draft.

Daniel Jones left to sign with the Colts in 2025, Sam Darnold, 2025.

I wonder.

If you We to kind of FBI interrogate everybody there.

How much of, and, and there were a lot of disagreements between Queesy and Kevin O'Connell.

I think that was a doomed marriage a little bit from the start.

But I do wonder how much of the ultimate disagreement or if there was a disagreement at all about letting Donald and Daniel Jones out of that building because I remember.

When Arnold was having that incredible season, I remember writing week five, like, just extend him, just give him the, give him what Daniel Jones got from the Colts, the two-year '88, like do that or whatever you gotta do that early, do it early, yeah, and, and then one thing led to another, and obviously he's off with Seattle.

Daniel Jones, the same thing.

Do you think that there was a lack of proactive general management there, or do you think that this was O'Connell being like, no, no, no, play the rookie, I got him, I can get him here, you know, I mean, I think, I think Kevin O'Connell in 25.

Badly wanted to put competition in the room with JJ McCarthy, and if you wanna like really kind of like unwind this whole thing, um.

I mean, I think Kevin O'Connell and my coaching staff wanted to move heaven and earth to get Drake May in 2024, and I, I don't know that.

You know, I, I think sometimes this can be where you get in trouble.

It's like you fall in love with one anyway, and then take one anyway , right?

Like when you can't get him because I mean, here's the reality.

I mean, Queasy could have pushed all the chips in the middle of the table.

I don't think the Patriots were trading number 3, you know what I mean?

Like I just, based on what I know, they had real conviction on Drake May, and this is one thing that Patriots group, you know, Gerard Mayo's gone, Elliott Wolf still there, deserves credit for.

Because the Giants and Vikings both came with really strong offers for the 3rd pick, and the Patriots had conviction on Drake, and they were not ready at that point, New England, like they were not a quarterback away, right, but like they had conviction on the player, they took him, good for them, they were right.

Um, I think in 25, what we're looking at is.

I like, I think Kevin O'Connell would tell you I wanted to put competition in the room.

I wanted to make sure that whatever it was, ensuring my, the players had the best answer, the position.

And look, in Queasy's defense, they tried.

They put an offer in front of Sam Darnold that was competitive.

They essentially offered Daniel Jones what the Colts offered.

There wasn't much difference between the offers.

Why do those guys leave?

I think in both guys' cases, what they looked at was, where do I have the best chance of being the quarterback for the next 5 years?

And unfortunately, that's where the JJ McCarthy selection comes into play, because Indianapolis didn't have that complication.

They had Anthony Richardson, who everybody knew was done there.

Seattle didn't have that complication.

They were trading Geno Smith, right?

So those two teams, if you look at the quarterback room, Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones could look at those two teams and say, I've got a much better shot of being the quarterback for the next 5 years here, because if I have 2 or 3 bad games in a row in Minnesota, JJ McCarthy is going in the game, you know.

So like I think it's just that's where taking one as high as they did complicates that, you know.

So I, I don't know that there's like a real finger to point there other than.

Did they stop looking for competition?

Did the front office stop looking for competition for JJ McCarthy too fast?

Did they listen enough to their coaching staff and saying JJ might not be ready?

Like, we really need competition in the room.

And, you know, the credit of everybody there, I think they did pivot when it happened , and we talked about this last year.

It was, OK, let's go all in on JJ and let's find out, right?

And let's let the players know who their quarterback is and let's give the veterans a chance to wrap their arms around JJ McCarthy.

And look, like I think, you know, over time, JJ's got a chance, but I think he's further, I think he was further away coming into the league than some people realized.

And If you need that development time, and now all of a sudden you're thrown into a veteran team that's coming off a 14-win season.

Like, that's tough to mesh, you know what I mean?

Like, so, um, you know, you'd hope for JJ's sake now that he gets a chance to kind of take a step back and develop a little bit more, um, because he has come along some this offseason.

He's just not where Kyler Murray is right now.

Um, and, you know, like, here's the other part of it too, Connor, I mean, You gotta do some things to build.

If you are you're talking about what's right for the, the team now, you gotta do some things to build an offense for Kyler Murray, and I think you're better off putting them, putting that stuff in now than you would be two weeks out from the season, especially when you've got like a new run game guy and Frank Smith who's already made a big difference in what you're doing.

A new like a brand new run game too, right?

And I think that, so, that's where I kind of land on this too, where In the immediate aftermath of Kyler getting named the starter, I think everybody, uh, a lot of people who I like, think are the best in this business, were like, this is a twelve-win football team.

I, I guess I'm like the, I'm the, whatever the ghost of Christmas past, whatever the bad one is, like the negative one that's just like, oh, like everything sucks, but like, I, I still see a lot of growing pains here.

Like, I love Frank.

I, I, Frank's been on my head coach's list for years.

I think that he is a prospective head coach in the NFL.

I, to put in wide zone.

It's not an offense that Kyler's ever played in.

And then I think if you look at the, the stuff underneath it, right?

Like, like I think in our heads, it's easy to, to, to imagine Kyler.

Evading the pocket and escaping out and, and flinging one up for Justin Jefferson and it's like, yeah, but the, the, the numbers don't necessarily bear that out.

Like, he scrambled like 1% more than Sam Darnold did at the Vikings.

So, like, to say that we're gonna have, like, more movement at the quarterback position, I, I just don't think it's necessarily true.

And the other part of it is, throws on scrambles.

Not that great since 2020 , you know what I mean?

And so it's like, I, I, I think that what we're getting, and I want you to tell me if you think I'm right or wrong about this, I think what we're getting is a situation where O'Connell's just trying to get somebody to just, to just play the, what is it , the, um, sheet music, you know what I mean?

Like he's just trying to get somebody to play the sheet music.

Yeah, I've always had a key Talib quote, right, right.

What was it, uh, I'm gonna look that up right now while I talk.

So let's see if I can multitask here, but I, I think you're right.

Like I, I think, you know, a huge part of it is gonna be, um, a huge part of it is gonna be The difference that they're Frank is able to make in the run game, and what they're gonna be able to do um to defenses with Aaron Jones and with Jordan Mason.

And I do think like, There's a way to weaponize Kyler Murray in that like, you know, the boots off of the wide zone, he's gonna be able to stretch the defense out, which, you know, creates space for the running backs.

What he'll be able to do in the keeper game, I think is really intriguing.

Um, they gotta tailor to him a little bit though.

I mean, can he, can he be more accurate over the middle of the field, which has always been a problem in part, you know, like there's those questions too.

By the way, it is people that dry hump stats to make a point probably prefer reading sheet music to hearing the song.

Yeah, I'm I keep to lead, but anyway, in this, I, but I think, but I think a big part of it is, I mean, they've got a veteran team.

How can they find a way.

To create a scenario.

Where The run game is a problem, and the run game makes Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison more dangerous.

And now Things are just easier on everyone, you know, like, and like you said, it's playing Kevin O'Connell's sheet music.

And it's gonna be intriguing too, because this is a little, I mean, I think Kevin gets a lot of credit for his work with quarterbacks as he should.

I, I don't know the last time he worked with a quarterback like this because he had Dwayne Haskins in Washington, right, and I think was it Taylor Heineke, I can't remember who it was .

It was Dwayne Haskins and, or no, it's Alex Smith, Dwayne Haskinson, an older Alex Smith, Washington, right?

And then he had in Los Angeles Matthew Stafford, and then since he's been in, in, uh, in, in Minnesota, it's Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold.

So this is sort of a different ballgame too, and JJ McCarthy, of course.

What do you think?

Because in my head, there's two scenarios here.

I, I, and, and I really only think there's 21 is that this is a 9 and 8 team.

And what happens here is that, which, by the way, is what they were last year despite us all talking about it like they were an abject disaster.

Detroit falls in that category too.

It's like those teams fell apart last year, they were both 9 and 8.

They had a winning record, yeah.

So I, I think it's 9 and 8, and what happens is what kind of always happens, right, where you have a new offense that looks really exciting in training camp, but Your quarterback essentially has 2 weeks to digest it as the starter in this offense.

And then as the season goes on, much like it did with Kyler and Cliff Kingsbury, you know, it starts to take shape and mold in different ways.

Like, there's gonna be stuff that Kyler's gonna take back and say, I don't like this, it's making me uncomfortable.

It's, I'm getting hit when I do this, whatever, whatever.

And there's gonna be stuff that Kevin O'Connell pulls on, and then it depends on what What you end up with, right ?

You know what I mean?

It depends on what the middle ground of those two offenses is.

And so that could be 9 and 8, or it could be like, uh, you know, I, I, I don't think, I'm not trying to call anybody wrong.

I mean, I do see a world where this is a 12-win or 13-win football team , but like, I don't know which way do you, are you leaning?

Are you leaning closer to one or the other after seeing them in, in, in person?

The one thing I worry about a little bit with them is their age.

Um, and there are a few teams like this this year, you know.

But it's like Aaron Jones, Brian O'Neal, um, Byron Murphy is a little older now, Andrew Van Ginkle is a little older now.

Um, they are relying on some older players, you know, and I think Brian Flores's defense is naturally gonna be a little older than the mean anyway, just because that's sort of what they look for to fill it.

Um.

I'd say like they're gonna need big years from some younger guys, right?

So Dallas Turner is one I have circled, but I think I'd have a very big year for them, um.

You know, can they get anything out of Caleb Banks as a rookie?

Um, you know, Dominic Orange has had a nice training camp for them.

So Banks and Orange both come along, maybe the interior of the D-line looks a little bit different.

Um, you know, they got this Ty Felton, who was a good special teamer for them last year as a rookie, who they think is gonna be able to add a dimension for them on offense .

So, they're, they're one of these teams, it's like, that's, that I, I'm comparing them to the Niners again, but like the Niners are older in a lot of spots.

The Vikings aren't quite that old, but Like that'd be the one thing I'd be worried about.

The division's tough, you know what I mean?

Like there's not a bad team in that division.

So, um, do they get back to 14 wins?

No.

Can I see him at 10 or 11, sure.

I thought my buddy Tyler Dunn had a good point too that I didn't consider, and that is that, um, I'm taking a chance on anybody, uh, outside of Arizona just to see what happens, like, especially at the quarterback position.

Like, let's just see, you know, it's like, it's like taking a crack at Sam Darnold outside of the.

Jets or Baker Mayfield outside of the Browns.

It's like, yeah, you know, maybe we should, uh, maybe we should see if there's some other, uh, that there's some other issues there.

But anyway, I'm excited.

Let's see what Kyler Murray gives, uh, to the Vikings.

And I don't know, what's your quick yes or no?

Does JJ McCarthy start a game this year?

And Is JJ McCarthy the #2?

You know, I thought about that, like, I think they, they feel like it'd be good for him to have a developmental year.

They have Carson Wentz, they have Max Brosmer, they don't have to play him.

I'll say.

I'll say no.

I I really do believe though that Kevin O'Connell wants to keep working with him and wants, I mean, look, like they can't franchise Kyler after the year.

Does Kyler play good enough for them to merit a new contract?

Uh, you know, there's a lot of questions there.

Um, I, I think this is like, it's interesting cause it's, it's a, it's, I think it's still a really good team, but it's one of the teams that maybe has the least certainty at the quarterback position going into 2027, if that makes sense, right.

Yeah.

It's gonna be interesting.

Maybe another one next year.

Who knows?

I honestly think if Kevin O'Connell has a dream season, it's that we're talking about the defense in the run game 9 weeks in, and we can't remember who's under center.

That's my thought.

I've always thought too, like, you know, he was in.

He was in, um, you know, in LA when the Stafford thing happened.

And, you know, you do wonder if, uh, if at some point, Like a veteran comes available and they're the throw our hands up and like, let's just go get the stud team.

You know what I mean?

Like if I mean, if like Burrow, whatever, if someone, you know, eventually down the line, Tom Brady.

I'm kidding.

Um, Tom Brady's like Ted Williams, he like, like what they froze, what do they, they, they froze Ted Williams, isn't that right?

or something like that?

I can't remember.

I think that is, isn't his head cryogenically frozen?

It's something like that, but there was a lot of weird stuff going on with that anyway.

Um, this one was kind of a different guy.

Another thing that people are weird or crooked, but different.

Imagine the the guy begging you to freeze your head that there's something wrong with him and he isn't exactly the, the most straightforward businessman.

Um, Ed Williams' son wasn't very popular in Boston, as you might imagine.