J.J. McCarthy has reportedly thrown multiple interceptions during the Minnesota Vikings’ offseason workouts, and that’s apparently enough for national sportscaster Colin Cowherd to write off the young quarterback.
In a floundering rant — during which Cowherd admitted to not watching the film of McCarthy’s lone preseason appearance in 2024 — the show host rattled off the winning “traits” of current and all-time great quarterbacks to make this prevailing point: There’s no “wow factor” in J.J. McCarthy’s game.
“There’s so much mystery here,” Cowherd said during a recent episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd. “Why does Minnesota keep flirting with other quarterbacks? And there’s too many conflicting reports on J.J. McCarthy. So I just find the whole thing… there’s a lot of stuff I just don’t know. I feel sometimes there’s a little bit of a spin job here.”
In Colin’s defense, he does a national show and discusses a wide range of sports topics beyond the Vikings and the NFL. He doesn’t have intimate knowledge of the Vikings organization like a local reporter would. His take on McCarthy seems to be based solely on what he referred to as “people I trust,” or more specifically, a scouting report that questioned McCarthy’s arm strength.
He’ll probably want this rant back, as it got a little off the rails, comparing a 22-year-old player who’s never taken a real NFL snap to guys like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen… and John Elway.
Cowherd on Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy: ‘There is no great trait’
“I will say this,” Cowherd continued, “to be a great franchise quarterback… there’s got to be a trait. There has to be a ‘wow’ trait. So let’s just go through them. Mahomes — arm talent. Allen — sheer force of size. Lamar — athletic ability. Stafford — has one of the great arms in the last 30 years in the league; he’s got a magical arm. Burrow — composure and accuracy, like as good as Brady in his prime if you look at the numbers and analytics. Herbert — big, strong, power arm. C.J. Stroud — accuracy, moving left, moving right, moving forward; C.J. Stroud’s accuracy since high school is insane. Hurts — strength, pound-for-pound, 600-pound squats. Kyler Murray — elusiveness. You start stacking up these quarterbacks, there’s a trait. Like, Elway — arm. Marino — arm. Aaron Rodgers — arm, release.
“Go back and look at the people I trust. There’s one or two things that I never buy. I never buy this, when you say this about a quarterback: That guy is a winner. Everybody under Jim Harbaugh and Steve Spurrier and Nick Saban is a winner. I don’t want to hear that. If you go back and look, (McCarthy’s) arm is modest. His escapability is modest. His release wasn’t super quick. There is no great trait.”
Philadelphia Eagles fans might disagree. Jalen Hurts didn’t win Super Bowl MVP because of his squats. He won it because he’s one of the top clutch performers and winners in the NFL right now. You could argue McCarthy showed off similar traits at Michigan during their national title run, but this was about the point in the rant where Cowherd needed to be reeled in.
Cowherd: Vikings could regret picking J.J. McCarthy over Sam Darnold
“That’s why I was always a Darnold fan,” Cowherd said. “Darnold is tough with a big arm. He can be reckless, but there are times you watch Darnold — his ability to make big throws while moving is special. I don’t get McCarthy’s ‘wow’ trait. Now I like Jordan Love, but I think Jordan Love has an incredible arm. He’s got a whip, and he’s also super athletic. I don’t see the ‘wow’ (with McCarthy). There’s gotta be one thing.”
There’s probably nothing more useless than stats from spring workouts, where guys are running around in shorts. We’ll get a better gauge of where McCarthy’s at come training camp.
As for McCarthy’s arm strength, that’s never really been a question for Minnesota, with some credible sources, like Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, stating the opposite from team headquarters, raving about the zip on McCarthy’s ball and how he can make every throw.
Viral rants are kind of Colin’s thing, but he should probably watch McCarthy play before going off on his arm strength and athletic ability.
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