QB J.J. McCarthy, MIN (2 Viewers)

[steelwind]

Not me. I have Dimes on a bye. Love JJ’s schedule. Starting him with confidence at home against the Bears

I'm deciding between JJM or Rodgers vs Cinn.

that's tough. I think I go Rodgers for floor and JJM for ceiling.

Well then I'll choose ceiling. Going against Lamar, Bijan, London owner this week.

 

[Faust]

Vikings' J.J. McCarthy dealing with bruised hand, limited

 

[Tau837]

Really folks? People are willing to define a NFL QB after 4 starts? It’s really difficult to take some here seriously.

It’s more about the context of Darnold being 14-3 with that team last year and now being a legitimate MVP candidate in Seattle.

The Vikings needed J.J. McCarthy to be ready to go without training wheels and he wasn’t.

The growing pains should be expected, but it’s more difficult to swallow under the circumstances.

I’ve always felt like he was propped up by his supporting cast so it’s no surprise to me that he’s struggling.

I don’t think Darnold is a legit MVP candidate.

 

[Bronco Billy]

Really folks? People are willing to define a NFL QB after 4 starts? It’s really difficult to take some here seriously.

It’s more about the context of Darnold being 14-3 with that team last year and now being a legitimate MVP candidate in Seattle.

The Vikings needed J.J. McCarthy to be ready to go without training wheels and he wasn’t.

The growing pains should be expected, but it’s more difficult to swallow under the circumstances.

I’ve always felt like he was propped up by his supporting cast so it’s no surprise to me that he’s struggling.

What were people saying about Darnold after his first couple of seasons? You pick a superb example of why it is so important to be patient with young QBs and why such harsh critiques about JJM are so misplaced.

 

[Grahamburn]

Really folks? People are willing to define a NFL QB after 4 starts? It’s really difficult to take some here seriously.

It’s more about the context of Darnold being 14-3 with that team last year and now being a legitimate MVP candidate in Seattle.

The Vikings needed J.J. McCarthy to be ready to go without training wheels and he wasn’t.

The growing pains should be expected, but it’s more difficult to swallow under the circumstances.

I’ve always felt like he was propped up by his supporting cast so it’s no surprise to me that he’s struggling.

What were people saying about Darnold after his first couple of seasons? You pick a superb example of why it is so important to be patient with young QBs and why such harsh critiques about JJM are so misplaced.

All I'm saying is it's a lot easier to be patient with a young QB when you don't have a roster that's as ready to win as MN. That Vikings team won 14 games last year with Darnold. It always seemed like the wrong move to me to let him walk. I get that they didn't quite know what they had with Darnold when they drafted McCarthy, but they knew after the season. They should have at least franchise tagged him.

There are also several instances of young/rookie QBs lighting it up in their first couple seasons. McCarthy looks like a deer in headlights.

 

[Gally]

It always seemed like the wrong move to me to let him walk. I get that they didn't quite know what they had with Darnold when they drafted McCarthy, but they knew after the season. They should have at least franchise tagged him.

What they knew was Darnold couldn't handle playoff pressure. Darnold has been good this year but I will hold judgement until he plays well in a playoff game. He folded last year when the games mattered most. I didn't mind the Vikes letting him go because of the money he was going to command. I would have been ok with the franchise tag for a year to let JJM get a year of being physically able to participate but I didn't want a longer term deal for Darnold.

McCarthy looks like a deer in headlights.

I think JJM has the ability but is a "rookie". I don't think he looks deer in the headlights. I think he looks the part at times and is learning. He is improving every week even if it's just a little bit at times.

Injuries have really derailed the Vikes more than anything. Not being able to run the ball because they O-line is in a shambles has been the biggest issue. Hopefully as the line gets healthy we can get a complete picture.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

It always seemed like the wrong move to me to let him walk. I get that they didn't quite know what they had with Darnold when they drafted McCarthy, but they knew after the season. They should have at least franchise tagged him.

What they knew was Darnold couldn't handle playoff pressure. Darnold has been good this year but I will hold judgement until he plays well in a playoff game. He folded last year when the games mattered most. I didn't mind the Vikes letting him go because of the money he was going to command. I would have been ok with the franchise tag for a year to let JJM get a year of being physically able to participate but I didn't want a longer term deal for Darnold.

I mean, the sample size is one, right? How can we possibly say a guy is good or bad in the playoffs based off of 1 game? And it wasn't even that bad of a game. It was perfectly mediocre, the kind of game Joe Burrow etc have had in the playoffs a number of times.

He did suck in week 18 against the Lions when they could have won a bye week, but he was really good against tough opponents in weeks 16 and 17 in hugely important games that were basically a playoff atmosphere as well.

 

[rockaction]

What they knew was Darnold couldn't handle playoff pressure. Darnold has been good this year but I will hold judgement until he plays well in a playoff game. He folded last year when the games mattered most. I didn't mind the Vikes letting him go because of the money he was going to command. I would have been ok with the franchise tag for a year to let JJM get a year of being physically able to participate but I didn't want a longer term deal for Darnold.

The pressure wasn't mental, though. It was literal defensive pressure. Campbell brought it in droves. Like pouring oil off of the castle.

He must have done something because his pressure numbers this year are the best. He worked on it. I have no idea how, and you won't catch me crticizing the Vikings. From what they saw, he caved. He folded like a cheap tent. That's resilience what he's done. It's remarkable and unlucky for MN.

I think McCarthy is just divisive for some reason. I don't know. I was a supporter and drafted him; when I watched more closely, I was like, "Oh, this is awful." Chances are it's probably somewhere between his most ardent detractors and supporters. but have you seen today's graph on twitter? Not good. at all.

 

[Gally]

I mean, the sample size is one, right? How can we possibly say a guy is good or bad in the playoffs based off of 1 game? And it wasn't even that bad of a game. It was perfectly mediocre, the kind of game Joe Burrow etc have had in the playoffs a number of times.

I thought he was downright terrible in both games (week 18 and the playoff game) and I think both could be considered playoff type games due to the stakes of the games. He folded under the pressure of the moment and looked terrible. He reverted back to his pre-KOC coached days and looked completely lost. He reverted back to the Ghost seeing Darnold all over again. He was a big reason the Vikes lost.

 

[menobrown]

It was literal defensive pressure.

Amen.

How his season ended:

After being pressured a season-high 33 times by the Lions in Week 18, the Vikings offensive line was charged with allowing 32 pressures against the Rams. Left tackle Cam Robinson gave up 12 pressures and a sack, by far the worst of Minnesota's O-linemen. Robinson had allowed 18 total pressures in Weeks 11-16 before giving up 21 in the last two games.

Right tackle Brian O'Neill, who left the game with a possible concussion in the fourth quarter, was charged with seven pressures and two sacks. Left guard Blake Brandel gave up two sacks and five total pressures, and right guard Dalton Risner stumbled his way to five pressures including a sack.

The best of the bunch up front was center Garrett Bradbury, who was charged with only one pressure in 53 pass-blocking snaps.

*They got rid of everyone of them except O'Neill. I can't argue Darnold played well because he did not, but I'd few if any QB's could have under these circumstances.

 

[Gally]

The pressure wasn't mental, though. It was literal defensive pressure. Campbell brought it in droves. Like pouring oil off of the castle.

It was mental. There was pressure but there was also completely missed WR's that were open early and holding way too long. He played completely different in those games then he did the entire year. He was completely different and it wasn't just the defense. Being a Vikes fan I watched every minute of every game last year and he was markedly different in those last two games.

I wasn't a believer early and kept waiting for Darnold to revert but then he finally won me over only to dash my hopes again when the games actually mattered the most. Ugh.