It's really not J.J. McCarthy's fault.
But the fact that he missed his entire rookie season with an injury has raised the pressure and stakes for him in 2025 with the Minnesota Vikings.
ESPN's Bill Barnwell explains in his new piece that the Vikings have a lot of ways to move on from McCarthy after this season if he doesn't perform well enough.
"If McCarthy disappoints, would the Vikings be more aggressive in bringing in a veteran to compete with the 22-year-old in 2026?" Barnwell wonders. "(Daniel) Jones will be a free agent, and (Sam) Darnold's three-year deal with the Seahawks is essentially a one-year pact for $39 million. Kirk Cousins, who played well in O'Connell's offense before tearing his right Achilles midway through the 2023 season, will likely be a free agent after eventually parting ways with the Falcons. McCarthy would still be the favorite to start versus those experienced passers, but he might have more riding on his debut season than other unproven signal-callers across the league."
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McCarthy is talented, to be sure. He went 10th overall out of Michigan for a reason.
But after the Vikings stormed to the playoffs behind Darnold last year, a step back in the offense this time around would be viewed as a disappointment.
McCarthy has top weapons, led by Justin Jefferson, and it'll be his job to maximize them.
"It would be silly to suggest the Vikings have soured on McCarthy, simply because they've barely seen the 2024 first-round pick on the field, as he tore his right meniscus after 17 pass attempts in the first preseason game a year ago," Barnwell writes. "They are hardly naive to the benefits of having a first-round pick on a rookie contract at the most important position in sports, and while they traded for Sam Howell, this is McCarthy's job in 2025. If he plays as well as Darnold did last season and Minnesota returns to the playoffs, there won't be any quarterback debate."
There's a lot riding on McCarthy, for sure.
Rarely does a young QB step into a starting job for the first time on a team that just won three-quarters of its games, but that's where McCarthy finds himself.
It's up to him to make the most of it.
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