Matthew Coller: All McCarthy's tools were on display vs. Raiders

Vikings rookie JJ McCarthy left no confusion about why the Vikings took him in the first-round after his first preseason showing.

Aug 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) under center against the Las Vegas Raiders in the third quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

MINNEAPOLIS — Preseason stat lines can be misleading sometimes. For example, last year’s NFL leader in preseason passer rating was Kenny Pickett and his exhibition play didn’t exactly translate to the regular season. So when analyzing JJ McCarthy’s preseason debut, we need to look beyond the strong 11-for-17, 188-yards, 2 TD 1 INT stat line and focus more on the skills that were on display at US Bank Stadium in the Vikings’ win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

In the lead up to the NFL Draft, analysts kept going back to McCarthy’s personality as a reason for thinking he could translate his winning ways at Michigan to the NFL. There were a few different ways that his approach to the game showed itself. The first was after he threw an interception.

After taking over for Sam Darnold, McCarthy came into the game and whipped an 18-yard completion over the middle to Jalen Nailor. His next throw was a miss on a short pass toward CJ Ham and then attempt No. 3 he escaped the pocket and tried to find receiver Trishton Jackson coming toward the sideline. He underestimated an NFL cornerback’s ability to undercut the ball and threw a rough interception.

The next pass he threw when he came back onto the field was a 24-yard completion that perfectly led Jackson across the field. On time. In rhythm. His next four plays were an incomplete short throw and then a quick completion to Trent Sherfield, scramble for nine yards and 21-yard throw to his right to Jackson that set up a field goal attempt.

To start the second half, McCarthy converted a third-and-long pass to tight end Nick Muse for a first down and then tossed a long touchdown pass to Jackson.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell was happy with the way McCarthy bounced back from his opening miscue.

 “How about him battling and coming right back?” O’Connell said. “Especially coming out of half I really wanted to see how he can come in, take some coaching as a group and then let's go out, execute, and try to put some points on the board.”

Jackson was impressed with the quick re-focus as well.

“I know he felt bad about it but he turned around and showed it,” Jackson said. “Great leadership. Getting us in and out of the huddle quick, fast, he’s poised. He’s legit.”

His arm strength didn’t get as much attention. It might now. His intermediate throws found their targets with some heat behind them and his third quarter TD traveled about 40 yards in the air in a snap.

“I thought the go ball was beautiful,” O’Connell said. “It's just a go ball. Trishton [Jackson] did a great job closing the space, stepping on the corner's toes and slipping by him. And J.J., five and one hitch ball out, trusting him to go to the spot. Beautiful throw.”

McCarthy’s playmaking ability was another plus that the Vikings noted after drafting him 10th overall. Even on the interception, the young QB was able to escape the rush and put himself in position to either run for a first down or find a receiver. On the following drive, the pocket collapsed completely and he escaped for a 9-yard gain. His pocket presence also made a difference with zero sacks on 19 drop-backs.

Where he needed to make improvements following OTAs and minicamp was in footwork and accuracy. Those things have come a long way during camp and several passes where he hit his receivers in stride stood out on Saturday afternoon.

The next natural question after demonstrating all the tools that the Vikings’ staff was buying into during the pre-draft process is: What does McCarthy’s strong showing mean toward his chances to start Week 1?

“I'm just looking for him to improve, look comfortable in our system,” O’Connell said. “I look it as just another glorified singular step in the process.”

With Darnold stringing together good practices with the first team and looking comfortable moving the Vikings’ offense as QB1, it seems that it’s going to take a lot more than McCarthy putting together a good preseason game to change where things stands right now. O’Connell said he is focused on the next steps, from the night practice on Monday night to joint practices next Wednesday and Thursday.

“There is an overall belief in the development toward this position that I am way more focused on controlling what we can control, which is how we put together practice, how we layer learning, how we allow confidence to build and ownership to build,” O’Connell said.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

— O’Connell has shown a lot of belief in Jalen Nailor since he was drafted in 2022 and the young receiver carried over his strong camp to the preseason field vs. Las Vegas with three catches for 63 yards.

“Those of you guys who have been at training camp, seeing him make plays and see him show up…that’s what he’s capable of,” O’Connell said. “He really played X tonight in Justin Jefferson’s spot and he showed up, ran some really good routes, has a great way about him but also has some versatility and we’re going to continue to feed him and give him ops because we’ve always been excited about him. It’s just been an availability thing, and he stacks up really, really good weeks together now which needs to be expected as long as he can keep putting it together. I’m really proud of where he’s at.”

— Dallas Turner said that practicing against Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill gave him an advantage when he finally saw game action. He picked up a QB hit and sack on two third-down plays on the same drive.

“I feel like after I got that first thud in, got back into that mood,” Turner said.

— McCarthy mentioned that one of Sam Darnold’s throws in particular wowed him and the calmness that the veteran displayed moving the ball helped him get ready to go in the game.

“I felt like I could breathe a little bit more after seeing Sam (Darnold) go down there and dissect that defense, especially the ball to Speedy (Jalen Nailor), it was such a artistry throw that he had that a lot of people in the quarterback world appreciate. To see him go and do that on the first drive it gave me a lot of confidence.”

— Trishton Jackson’s 100-yard performance would seem to put him a leg up in the receiver competition. It has been a tight battle with Jackson and Trent Sherfield for a role behind the top four receivers (Jefferson, Addison, Nailor, Powell).

“It makes me more hungry,” Jackson said. “Now that people can see what I can do, I want to go out there and just push myself even more. Do more for the team, even for myself. And go out there and have fun. I had fun today.”

— O’Connell said the only players that were held out for rest were Justin Jefferson and Harrison Smith. Others like Dalton Risner, Gabriel Murphy, Aaron Jones, Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel were out due to bumps and bruises. KOC implied that they will have some of that group back for the joint practices.

— O’Connell did not directly comment on a report from Josina Anderson about Stephon Gilmore visiting the Vikings on Monday but he did not deny it either.

“I know we are going to be constantly trying to figure out if there is a player out there that we can add to this team that has a chance to help us win. I have a ton of respect in Stephon Gilmore’s career playing against him. This is a guy that has done it at a really, really high level for a long time, so if that is something that ends up being a possibility, I know Kwesi and his staff will get us going in the right direction.”