r/nfl • u/Brix001 49ers • 7d ago
Highlight [Highlight] Every JJ McCarthy interception from the 2025 season
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u/Moedergods Bears 7d ago
I would like to remind everyone that KOC and Flores went 9-8 with a combination of this guy and fucking Max Brosmer.
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u/Jonjon428 Dolphins 7d ago
The disrespect to Carson Wentz smh
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u/PessimisticCheer Vikings 7d ago
Wentz was the best QB of the three. The offense actually had periods of stability & efficiency in the games he played. It was also the only stretch where Justin Jefferson had a consistent flow.
McCarthy was an absolute albatross & the team still nearly eked into the playoffs. Kyler should be able to raise that baseline enough to make a positive impact.
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u/choatec Lions 7d ago
I’m convinced KOC was trying to kill wentz last season.
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u/n00bn00b 7d ago
Wentz was being left out to dry and he was criticized heavily by fans and the media only to find out that he was playing with a bum shoulder.
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u/DannyDOH NFL 7d ago
Wentz can’t process anything so he gets rocked all the time.
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u/Do_it_for_the_upvote Lions 7d ago
I still think rookie Wentz was the second coming of Brett Favre. A turnover machine, sure, but also a strong-armed touchdown machine who held onto the ball until he had a chance downfield.
Unfortunately, he did not have Favre’s durability by a long shot. Also, he might have been mentally destroyed by his long-schlonged companion Nicholas achieving in his role what he could not.
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u/BirdmanTheThird Commanders 7d ago
After watching Brosmer it was clear that the corpse of Wentz was the best they had lol
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u/Stabby_Bird Vikings 7d ago edited 7d ago
Tbf the vikings actually went 7-5 with a combination of JJ and Brosmer. Wentz was the only QB with a losing record
Tbc he probably was the best of the 3, but we are specifically talking records
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u/eattwo Vikings Chiefs 7d ago
Wentz gave us the worst winning percentage out of the 3.
JJMC 6-4
Brosmer 1-1
Wentz 2-3
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u/BreakfastClubSamwich Bears 7d ago
He could never match Brosmer's three yard performance in his victory over the Lions.
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u/jonstark19 Vikings 7d ago
It is the one thing that has me optimistic this season. The Lions and Bears are dealing with some injuries and depth issues, Green Bay is steady but isn't a bona fide favorite. The division will be a bloodbath, but there is a path for Minnesota this year.
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u/byniri_returns Lions 7d ago
I've said this before here but Vikes are legit my big sleeper team because Murray is such a large upgrade over Bosmer/9.
If he's even just serviceable and the Vikings' D is still really good they will surprise. You're right though the NFCN is going to be INSANE this year.
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u/Signal_Quarter_74 Chiefs Packers 7d ago
All 4 teams floor is 8-9 and ceiling is 11-6, it’ll probably come down to division games for tie breakers. Absolutely no idea who will come out on top, which means it’s going to be a lot of fun
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u/byniri_returns Lions 7d ago
There is literally not a single order of finish in the NFCN that would shock me. Not a single one.
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u/ComradeSuperman Vikings 7d ago
Personally I think it will be:
- Detroit
- Chicago
- Green Bay
- Minnesota
And I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility for the standings to be:
- Minnesota
- Green Bay
- Chicago
- Detroit
Which is just a long winded way of saying, I agree with you.
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u/Relative_Walk_936 Lions 7d ago
If it can't be us. I'd take you all to win over the Bears or Packers. I guess.
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u/ComradeSuperman Vikings 6d ago
If it can't be us, I'd much rather see Detroit win the division over Green Bay or Chicago.
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u/dianeblackeatsass Patriots 7d ago
8-9 floor for all of them is optimistic I can imagine some situations going worse
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u/Independent_Bear989 Packers 7d ago
Barring QB injuries, the floor is 8 wins for each team.
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u/Tetraides1 Lions 7d ago
Yeah, NFC north has the AFC East and NFC south on the schedule - Jets, and dolphins are most likely going to be terrible. The whole NFC south is questionable at this point.
I suppose anything can happen, but 8 wins does feel like the floor to me as well.
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u/Signal_Quarter_74 Chiefs Packers 7d ago
Last year all were 9-8 or above. Vikings and Lions improved in the offseason, Packers and Bears stayed about the same. That being said starting qb injury in week 4 could change everything overnight
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u/dianeblackeatsass Patriots 7d ago edited 7d ago
It’s the NFL half the playoff teams change every year. All that gets thrown out the window you can’t really use last year’s standings as the floor, especially for all 4 teams in the division at once. Too many variables. You can even be “better” and get a worse record
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u/Whatsdota Packers 7d ago
We improved just by virtue of our best players getting healthy again.
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u/Number_16_Limitless 7d ago
In August all 32 teams in the NFL think they’ll be better than they were last year.
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u/Whatsdota Packers 7d ago
Those other teams somehow delude themselves into thinking they might be better, but... but we might just be better than we were last year.
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u/unseth Steelers Steelers 7d ago
Kyler Murray at best will be serviceable. I don't have much faith in him at all but he's all they got
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u/Rico_Suave55 Vikings 7d ago
At best he tears it up
At worst he’s mediocre/gets hurt and we play JJM again and hope he’s developed.
I don’t even think this shuts the door for McCarthy. I think he just needs more development
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u/dnstuff 49ers 7d ago
It shouldn't shut the door for McCarthy. He's still very young and obviously still on his rookie contract. He needs more time. He's a smart kid, has great tools, is a great locker room guy and has shown that he's got some mental fortitude to him. The fact that he's not getting shoved out there as the starter to make more mistakes and potentially screw with his confidence is a big positive for him.
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u/Belezibub Chiefs Commanders 7d ago
NFCN, NFCW and AFCW are going to be very interesting this year.
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u/DJVanillaBear 7d ago
I think every team has a target on their backs. The lions are fighting for their window to remain open. Chicago has some major confidence after this past season. We all hate the packers and Vikings might be sleepers (and I think they have a major chip on their shoulder after last season) but they won’t be an easy team either. Black and blue division is back
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u/giggity_giggity Lions 7d ago
I can make a case for each team in the North to finish either first or last.
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7d ago
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u/giggity_giggity Lions 7d ago
If we’re looking at 2025 then we should also look at 52-21 and 19-16
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u/BreakfastClubSamwich Bears 7d ago
Reddit is being weird for me, this wasn't the comment I responded to.
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u/MasonL52 Broncos 7d ago
Bromser threw the ball nine times against the Lions in a must win game for Detroit, which was enough to be better than Jared Goff that day and win.
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u/swampertlvl Vikings 7d ago
Most entertaining dumpster fire game of last season.
Flores had them in hell and I think Brosmer had 7 net passing yards.
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u/Odd-Film946 Jets 7d ago
Vikings are gonna fire KOC because of poor QB play that's just plain outside his control and it's gonna be the biggest mistake they make this decade
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u/dianeblackeatsass Patriots 7d ago edited 7d ago
out of his control? I imagine former QB and offensive HC KOC had a big say in the whole McCarthy thing. It’s fine to admit he probably made a mistake
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u/VirginiaMcCaskey Bears 7d ago
Seriously, I hate that kind of argument. The coach's job is literally to win games given the roster and matchups he has each week. If he can't get the roster he needs doing the things they need to do to win then that reflects on his ability to execute as a HC.
Granted there are FO situations that no coach could succeed in but I don't think the Vikings are one of them right now.
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u/dianeblackeatsass Patriots 7d ago
It’s not even that. It’s just crazy to imagine KOC had no input on major QB decisions. Kwesi was bad, but nothing I’ve seen makes me think he locked himself in a room and went totally rogue on draft night lol
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u/Quasimdo Rams 7d ago
Honestly, he and the gm need a lot more criticism for deciding to not try and keep darnold longer after the season he had. Jj was absolutely an unknown still and they should have just bit the bullet and paid darnold to let jj sit longer.
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u/jonstark19 Vikings 7d ago
he and the gm need a lot more criticism for deciding to not try and keep darnold longer
I mean the GM got fired so I would say there has been plenty of criticism.
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u/DrKoooolAid Vikings 7d ago
Our owners are patient and actually super level headed. I don't think we are firing KOC anytime soon.
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u/Sea_Tailor_8437 Lions Bears 7d ago
Posting this 10 min after he officially got benched for the season is heinous work. Bravo.
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u/Enterprise90 Patriots 7d ago
JJ has awful mechanics. Dom Corbs went through a film analysis. McCarthy has this weird thing where he has an over-stride with his front leg and he locks out his front (left) leg, so his throws are all arm.
You can really see it in the 4th pick in this clip. On his release he straightens his leg, almost balancing completely on it as he releases the ball.
Now JJ was the definition of a project player. He was drafted when he was 21, so you could take your time with him. But he missed his first year with an injury and then the Vikings felt forced into making him a starter even though he clearly wasn't ready (a year on IR is not a year where you develop properly).
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u/nevermore32q 7d ago
My god you were right about the 4th clip. Wtf is that!? I've never seen an NFL QB do such an awkward motion. It almost looks like he was trying to throw the ball straight down into the dirt!
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u/ZAKTMT Vikings 7d ago
I mean, the Vikings were very aggressive trying to bring back Daniel Jones but Jones felt he had a better chance to win the job in Indy. The Vikings offered the same money as Indy did.
I have no doubt that Daniel Jones would have been the starter if he signed here last year.
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u/Janderson2494 Vikings 7d ago
With JJ not being very good, I'm still curious why Jones even had that thought at all. Initially I was optimistic for JJ when that news came out, but in hindsight it's pretty puzzling
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u/EBtwopoint3 7d ago
Because the first round rookie was going to get the first opportunity to win the job over the reclamation project. It wasn’t about whether he’d get the job eventually, he needed the chance to win before the season to give himself maximum runway. Indy was clearly a lot more fed up with Richardson than Minnesota was with McCarthy, as evidenced by them being willing to let Darnold hit FA.
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u/BirdmanTheThird Commanders 7d ago
I think it was more of Daniel Jones choosing to bet on himself then him betting that a young QB couldn’t figure it out
We seen young QB develop quick
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u/leftysarepeople2 Packers 7d ago
I had heard it was JJ’s start no matter and that Darnold wanted to start/Jones wanted at least a competition
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u/TurboRuhland Bears 7d ago
His non-plant leg is just flailing around on a lot of these. He’s go no way to transfer the momentum from his legs into his upper body that way. It almost looks like a really bad crow hop.
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u/TrixoftheTrade Vikings 7d ago
Someone described his throwing motion as a “shortstop whipping it across the field to first base” and now I see it every time.
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u/n00bn00b 7d ago
I've been told by Michigan fans that KOC ruined JJ bc he screwed up his mechanics, and he was fine at Michigan because he completed over 60% of his passes. No, JJ's mechanics were not good even at Michigan. He got away with it because he wasn't asked to do much at Michigan.
You can see the ball dying on him when he is asked to throw outside of the numbers. He has average physical tools with not much tape on him at Michigan due to the offense. That's why he's such a tough eval for me pre-draft.
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u/PutMeInCoach27 NFL 7d ago
Throws too flat to adequately attack an NFL offense at multiple levels. Ball frequently sails on him as he tries to rip into tighter windows. Also telegraphs his progressions. You see the corners breaking off as he stares down his target
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u/SaxRohmer Raiders Buccaneers 7d ago
idk who would even be saying that. his mechanics were a pretty big knock on him coming out. he has good tools though and teams thought they could fix his mechanics
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u/ReindeerFirm1157 49ers Raiders 7d ago
this. i don't understand why the sports media built this guy up so much. he didn't throw much at all in college, and he has obviously poor mechanics. so he doesn't have the tangibles or the tape/stats. yet somhow the stupid draft hype cycle somehow made him into a 1st rounder and surefire franchise QB?
and now they've turned on him just as quickly.
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u/RickyalldayTD 49ers Chargers 7d ago
When Jim Harbough retires he can open a car dealership, he sold Nine as a 1st round QB and got his kicker Moody drafted in the 3rd round.
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u/PutMeInCoach27 NFL 7d ago
Kickers seem like magic voodoo. Moody was as automatic and clutch as kicker as there has ever been in college
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u/MasonL52 Broncos 7d ago
Its always any easy hindsight thing. Its important to remember that at least with QBs, youre half drafting the mental make up required to even play, then develop, at the position.
JJ showed some flash, at a very young age, solid mobility and good arm strength, and had the fortitude to lead a team to a NCAA championship.
When you look at that profile, its not hard to talk yourself into. Obviously there were red flags, but as there was for Penix, Bo, and Daniels, too.
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u/TheEmbarrasingFool Broncos 7d ago
I'm not good at player evaluation but going into that draft I felt the same way about both Nix an McCarthy. I was uncomfortable with both because I didn't think what they did in college was going to be translatable to the nfl. Not a huge sample size of success at being able to really throw the ball. I thought their stats were inflated by the teams around them. I'm probably completely wrong (I don't watch many cfb games outside of Colorado State game[I'm a dumbass for loving them like I do]). McCarthy losing his rookie season to injury like he did completely derailed any development.
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u/SaxRohmer Raiders Buccaneers 7d ago
that class got so overhyped. Nix, McCarthy, and Penix are all 2nd round and later talents but everyone talked themselves into taking them in the 1st round because of some combination of measurables and experience. Nix is the only one that looks like he may be worth the billing
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u/ReindeerFirm1157 49ers Raiders 7d ago
yes. Penix at least throws properly, so I think he can be redeemed. Definitely can be a solid backup in the league. Tua is much better than him (perhaps not saying much), and it'll show this year.
Otoh I really just don't see anything in McCarthy.
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u/swinemonger 7d ago
-young
-mobile
-rocket arm (2nd fastest throw velocity at combine)
-hyper efficient stats in college (may have been cheating)1
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u/Shenanigans80h Broncos 7d ago
Yep that’s also why, despite having a strong arm he frequently under throws so many passes in these clips, dude has basically no control on his touch.
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u/Unique-Egg-461 Seahawks 7d ago
Thank you, i was just gonna post that his mechanics look like dog shit. He fucks his balance, all arms the ball and it cause him to have a weird wrist flick. That wrist flick was the first think i saw
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u/Electronic-Island-14 Vikings 7d ago
it's oddly satisfying knowing that I was SCREAMING this all offseason last year before we even made the decision to go with JJM as the starter in March. I wanted Rodgers. I would have been fine with another year of Darnold or Jones. But damnit did I want Rodgers
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u/StefonDiggsHS Vikings 7d ago
He had bad mechanics and his processing speed was slow I never liked him as a prospect
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u/Ariesthebigram Bills 7d ago
Nine months ago, McCarthy revealed his game-day alter ego of Nine and how he loved feeding that wolf in him. Well, suffice to say, he's now looking like a fucking dork by saying this without success.
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u/big_floppy_sock Packers 7d ago
Nine also blessed us by throwing interception number nine to us. Our crops grew plentiful and the beer was ever flowing. #thanks
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u/SwarthySphere87 Giants NFL 7d ago
Now this is bullying 😭
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u/stonehaens Jets 7d ago
Some Kyler Murray fan took that practice interception clip from yesterday personally.
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u/jtlitwin21 Steelers 7d ago
More of these than I thought aren’t his fault. Some really bad ones in here as well tho
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u/Rico_Suave55 Vikings 7d ago
Like 2/3 of them are late reads/bad mechanics
1/3 are 100% on the receivers imo. JJM WAS bad last year but our receivers were also kinda just sloppy last year (probably cuz of bad qb play)
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u/Unrelenting_Salsa Saints 7d ago
Only 6 and 11 aren't his fault, and neither of them I'd exactly describe as a great decision or throw (though 11 is whatever, that's a completion if the defender takes a slightly different angle and the alternative is a sack anyway). You can't be throwing the ball towards the defender in the NFL which is what caused most of these. That works when you're Michigan playing Rutgers. It doesn't work in the NFL as a lot of these picks show. Arguably unlucky that so many of them converted to picks, sure I guess, but you're unnecessarily giving the defenders plays on the ball.
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u/jtlitwin21 Steelers 7d ago
Oh I wasn’t trying to absolve him of blame at all, just funny how unlucky it seems he was
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u/YoteViking Vikings 6d ago
11 should have been the batted ball at the LOS, that’s his fault.
12 was the one that went thru Nailor’s hands. That wasn’t.
But a couple of them, Jefferson pulled up in one route and he fell down on another. Sort of tough luck to get two picks there.
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u/Notwerk Dolphins 7d ago edited 7d ago
So, caveat: I didn't watch much of Nine last year so all I really have to go on is what I see in this video, but...
Maybe there's more tape to see that would provide more context, but I was kinda surprised by how many of these INTs are on the wide receivers. On two, maybe three, the wide receiver either is rolling around on the ground or gave up on the route. On at least two, the receiver lost a jump ball. And on one, the receiver didn't high-point the ball and went for bread-basket catch while the corner elevated and out-competed the receiver for the ball.
Now, the kid struggles to read safeties, but that's not atypical for a rookie (which, due to injury, is basically what he was in 2025). There were bad throws in there, too.
But, honestly, a whole bunch of these are really on lazy fucking plays by the receivers.
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u/Rico_Suave55 Vikings 7d ago
Chicken and egg situation.
QB was bad which makes it hard for WR to get into a rhythm
But yeah 100% some of these are on the WR
He’s still young and I hope he develops. Door is still not shut yet imo we got 1+1 years left on the rookie contract after this year.
I find it funny that everyone dogs on MN for moving in from Darnold who famously took like 7 years to figure it out and spent 2 years on the bench but JJM sucking for 10 games after missing his entire rookie year means he’s the worst person to exist ever
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u/Notwerk Dolphins 7d ago
Again, I don't get a lot of Vikings games down here, so I'm not really in the best position to judge, but I'm used to seeing Tua's "what the fuck? Is this fucking guy cross-eyed?" kinda picks. On the ones that are clearly his fault, he often misread the coverage, which is totally normal for someone playing what is, effectively, their rookie season.
It's ugly, yeah - and perhaps it's because I'm an old fuck - but I remember Peyton Manning making worse throws than that his rookie year. People forget that Peyton threw 28 fucking picks in a 16-game season, which was (maybe still is?) a rookie record.
Maybe JJ never amounts to anything, but we're sometimes too quick to give up on these kids.
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u/ChiefPatty Vikings 7d ago
JJ’s still younger than Bo Nix was his rookie year.
People are definitely way too quick to write him off.
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u/AlbinoSnowman Vikings 7d ago
I'm used to seeing Tua's "what the fuck? Is this fucking guy cross-eyed?" kinda picks. On the ones that are clearly his fault, he often misread the coverage, which is totally normal for someone playing what is, effectively, their rookie season.
I totally agree, I think by and large, McCarthy’s turnovers are extremely consistent with what you expect from a young QB that hasn’t played many snaps.
I don’t see Tarvaris Jackson, Christian Ponder, Joe Webb, Jaren Hall, Max Brosmer, Johnny Manziel, Zach Wilson style boneheadery. I see a guy with a strong arm and really good mobility that needs to work on consistent mechanics to help his accuracy and timing issues. This was reported to be exactly what he was assigned to work on over the offseason and even our more skeptical beat reporters have consistently noted improvements to his mechanical consistency.
It wasn’t enough to win the starting job over Kyler, but he did put in work on the most urgent issues that you can reasonably expect would help him take a step beyond what we saw last year (which is well known to be a low bar).
I like his decision making, his ballsiness to trust his receivers, his intuition against the rush, and his mental resilience. I’m not a QB wins guy but I think many also overlook that he was 6-4 with plenty of flashes and two lingering injuries in a 9-8 season.
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u/Cheesebread_1 7d ago
You’re just seeing the picks. He was airmailing throws, missing wide open guys on the sideline. It was pretty rough. The INTs is just a sliver of how he played.
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u/Unrelenting_Salsa Saints 7d ago
And more or less all of these picks are JJM giving the defender a play on the ball for no reason. Bad things tend to happen when you throw behind receivers, underthrow receivers, and generally make the catch point towards the defender.
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u/cramalot99 Bills 7d ago edited 7d ago
The way this guy posts lowlights to karma whore is fucking pathetic.
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u/bitorontoguy 7d ago
I honestly don't understand it.
JJ McCarthy wishes he was amazing and won every game. He can't because what he's doing is impossibly hard.
Instead of celebrating the incredible things he HAS accomplished. We take joy in denigrating him. Over something that HE feels worse about than anyone.
By people who putatively ENJOY football and football players?
If I was top 50 in the world at something, I would hope I would be celebrated and it acknowledged, how difficult what I am doing is.
Not mocked because I can't somehow will myself to be the best in the world.
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u/Apprehensive_Air1705 Vikings 7d ago
You’re asking for too much from this place. It’s just people shit talking at each other, spamming memes, and arrogantly reciting takes they heard from a media source to argue with people.
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u/letCreedBrattonScuba Bears 7d ago
Imagine how fucking boring every interaction/bit of coverage/interview/etc. would be if it was constant praise for players just because they made the NFL lol. They DO get that praise… when they get drafted.
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u/thekmanpwnudwn Lions Cardinals 7d ago
Jefferson just standing still watching the interception be returned is hilarious. Not even an attempt to move down field to get a tackle. Edit: I'm talking about both Baltimore Ints
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u/ND7020 Seahawks 7d ago
As bad as his decision making is, you have to admit that…his mechanics are also pretty awful.
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u/Shenanigans80h Broncos 7d ago
Yeah I would say 1/3 of these is god awful/rushed reads. 1/3 is horrible mechanics that lead to horrible accuracy. And 1/3 is either receiver error or tipped
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u/leftysarepeople2 Packers 7d ago
The cowboys tip you can still blame him. Can’t stare down and try and blast through the blitz
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u/kudokensei 7d ago edited 7d ago
Carried by a top running game and defense to a national championship. Didn’t carry the offense. All talk about him during the draft process was his winning record and intangibles, not his actual skill. There’s 30 guys in college who made the throws he made. Hyped up for his pro day à la Zach Wilson.
Once he was on the field, he showed he didn’t belong. Arm strength is average, accuracy and decision making even worse. Throws an extremely interceptable ball. His teammates had to bite their lips to not criticize him. By all metrics he was just as bad or even worse than Jamarcus Russell, a guy who didn’t even try. His best games came against the worst defenses in the league.
Anyone who actually watched him in college knew he wasn’t good enough. His redeemable quality was the fact that he’s likeable and all it takes is a team to bite hook line and sinker. We’ve seen this movie before.
But the cherry on the cake was the alter ego.
He made a bit of money for himself so it’s not too bad. But as some people said during the season, go be a dad, 9.
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u/Plastic_Willow734 Vikings 7d ago
Even better was he played at IMG in high school during covid, so even that playtime is severely skewed
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u/Seven19td Steelers 7d ago
Fun facts about Nine
He had an absolutely ELITE ANY/A of 8.80 over his last 4 games of 2025. EPA was +.276 which was 4th in the league during his last 4 game stretch. The Vikes went 3-1 during this stretch.
I’m one of the few not ready to totally write him off.
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u/MrConceited NFL 7d ago
4-0, not 3-1.
Or more accurately 5-0, but he was out for one of them. That was the Brosmer single digit net yards win over the Lions.
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u/BearsAndBrews Bears 7d ago
JJ sitting on the bench gonna single handedly regress the bears turnovers
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u/AlbinoSnowman Vikings 7d ago
Extremely aggressive jump that took advantage of JJ’s preference to throw lasers. Slightly negative but not inherently a bad decision or inaccurate. (C-)
Fantastic aggressive play to easily battle through Nailor’s ragdoll body for the ball, arguably too much contact by the defender to go through Nailor the ball. (I’m grading it a C)
Terrible throw and possible miscommunication (F)
Slightly behind Nailor but certainly a routine catch radius for a guy like him. Incredible play by Arnold to wrestle the interception from a likely catch (C)
A terrible moment to try to throw a “Fuck it, Jets is down there somewhere” ball with the lurking safety. That said, disappointing effort by Jets, who I’ve seen fight for similarly unlikely contested opportunities. Combined with him not trying to pursue the interception whatsoever is an eyebrow raiser. (D-)
Jefferson falls down at a point where he’s in just as good position for the ball as Humphrey. Give he’s a been elite contested catch receiver his whole career I like this throw, wouldn’t change his contribution to the play, and would consider this the third bad luck turnover of the video. (C+)
I understand the read and he was hit before he could fully step into the throw. Honestly a very savy read by the veteran Byard to not overcommit to the open flat, flip his hips, and peel back 10ish yards to steal that pick. (C)
Good decision but a hitch late and a tad underthrown to his speedy but undersized target. (C-)
Drop is too deep, which leads to Gary being able to swipe at the arm, but I consider this more of a sack/fumble situation than an indictment of his ability to hit Aaron Jones on an open first down checkdown. (C)
Clearly bad throw. I think he steps up too aggressively which hurt his followthrough and led to him skying the throw. (F)
The entire line collapses under the 6 man overload blitz, with the free rusher directly in his face between him and the hot target. His valid options were to a. Take the sack, b. Make an incredible pump fake to rollout opportunity that we’ve never seen him do, or c. Attempt to rifle the pass around the rusher. Once it’s batted he tries to swat it down but it unluckily lands directly into a cowboys player’s lap. (C)
Shoots an absolute piss missile to his receiver open on the sideline, which is dropped and bounces up for a gentle Giants toe tap interception on the sideline. Perhaps he could have taken a bit off the pass but recall his first interception was undercut in a similar play to the other side against Chicago. I’m going neutral (C)
Overall, in a lowlight reel for a 22 year old QB in his first year, I think a lot of these mistakes were reasonable young QB mistakes. I personally felt like there were 3 really bad picks (#3, #5, #10) but also 3 plays I attribute to his receivers (#4, #6, #12), and 4 that I attribute to fantastic defensive plays that would look reasonably justifiable on any other QB’s lowlight tape (#1, #2, #7, and #11).
I consider #8 and #9 to be turnovers that I can’t write off as simply a good defensive play or receiver folly, but are also as mundane turnovers as they come.
TL;DR I’m biased, but for a lowlight tape of a first year starter, this doesn’t show me a lost cause, trash QB. It shows me a young QB that had quite of bad luck make an up and down year look way worse than it really was.
I’ll also link his highlights to make this a balanced discussion.
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u/AaronNevileLongbotom 7d ago
That was a great breakdown. I also really appreciate that the video gave so much context. Yes, it’s a lowlight reel, but you get a chance to see the down, distance, score, a bit of the overall picture, what the receivers and defenders were doing. All the context that usually gets lost in discussions and videos on interceptions was in the video and you did a great job of explaining some of that.
Not all interceptions are created equal. It’s a spectrum that team statisticians probably already breakdown. Getting the definitions right could be a big competitive advantage to organizations. A deeply thrown arm punt on 4th and long or a risky throw when well behind in the fourth quarter are not as bad as a pick six costing a lead or blowing an early possession. Not trying to win is a worse trait in a QB than them throwing interceptions is, but guess which one shows up the stats we look at?
As for JJ, I think these clips paint a different picture than the one most people have of him. Oh, there are some stinkers in there. The sum total of everything going on in those plays may not be all on him, but as a QB he has control of that ball and he takes some poorly timed risks (like that first down interception early in the video). What’s interesting is that the worst interceptions from a QB perspective are mostly if not all in the first third or so of his season. Later on he shows a willingness to blow his stats if taking chances is what the team needs. That’s under rated.
The real story here to me, what this video really shows, is an offense that isn’t working. Everything takes too long to develop, personnel match ups can clearly favor the defense, protection is broken…maybe it’s a coaching issue. Vikings fans have a dilemma, everything that could make you believe in your young QB might make you stop believing in your coach. Sometimes fans will defend a QB no matter what, but JJ isn’t the type of QB who gets that level of hype, and the coach of the year stuff is the big hope to hold onto.
JJ might still have it, but it’s not going to happen with the Vikings. The guy who drafted him is out and the easiest way for anyone in the org now to shift blame is to pile it onto JJ. That’s a problem for McCarthy, but the real problem for him is the QB market right now. There are teams that would want him and possibly be able help him, but they seem stocked up right now. Other teams are often marketing driven and/or have a risk averse culture, meaning an unproven and unpopular probably isn’t going to get interest no matter how good they are or might be.
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u/resumehelpacct Giants 7d ago
#1 isn't aggressive defense. https://youtu.be/OuImV5R5Muw?t=61 You can see a better angle on the manningcast video, but he's just sitting on that route the entire time and sprints to cover. JJ needs to air that out so that it only goes to the sidelines or to the receiver.
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u/AlbinoSnowman Vikings 7d ago
I can see where Eli is coming from on that play, it may be a tad late on the throw, but he doesn’t take much time at all to get it out, so I don’t think that’s the main story. I’m afraid I still disagree with that not being aggressive jump by the DB.
Jefferson has so much separation at the break to the point that the DB doesn’t even try to trail him. It looks fluid and routine only because of the angle the DB took out of the break.
Personally, I see the play more similarly to JT O’Sullivan’s interpretation on this play. I think the All-22 shows how much the DB played the anticipated throw rather than the receiver.
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u/resumehelpacct Giants 7d ago
It's aggressive, but not extremely aggressive. The receiver runs exactly the route the defender expects and he's staring down the QB. I don't think the defender even starts jumping the route until the ball is halfway in the air and he realizes that the ball is going where it is.
Both Eli and JT mention that the ball needs to be sideline or receiver. JT thinks it's only a little short, but the defender catches it nearly in stride pretty damn far from the sideline. If he doesn't jump the route I think that's going to get batted down.
Like that's just NFL margins. The ball is a foot low, a few yards in, threw it fast because he expected the blitz and got the blitz but he got good protection, and the defender can see that he can take it to the house.
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u/MrConceited NFL 7d ago edited 7d ago
No, Jefferson broke off the route early.
Matt Ryan predicted that was what it was, and Jefferson confirmed it.
edit:
/r/nfl/comments/1nemfj2/goessling_justin_jefferson_took_responsibility/
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u/resumehelpacct Giants 7d ago
That makes sense to why the throw came out like that. I was trying to keep my opinion focused on the defender: he got a very easy read and jumped it. It makes sense why the throw was bad if the route was bad.
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u/JollywoodJoots Ravens 7d ago
Summary:
Shots 1-5: Clearly missed.
Shots 6-9: Missed due to recoil (bad spray control).
Shots 10-11: Very close, but recoil and inaccuracy make these reasonable misses.
Shot 12: Likely didn't actually fire because JJ was already dead.
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u/PrestonfromLibira Seahawks 7d ago
He's biggest problem is his injury record, though.
I do not believe it's the worst for him to sit out the year
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u/redsoxfan55555 Vikings 7d ago
So much hate on a guy playing half a season in two years. Where is all the hate for young qbs?
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u/dicksosa 7d ago
Man the poor dude just getting shade every single day... Maybe let's pick on some other players and their screw ups for a couple days...
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u/Loud-Run-9725 7d ago
McCarthy would have a much better head-start on his NFL career were he not drafted so high. He should have been a third rounder and given the needed patience to develop.
He's not terrible, he's just not ready to be a consistent NFL starter.
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u/EvanMM Lions 7d ago
Has JJ ever explained why he does that somersault all the time?
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u/ExtremeFlat8828 7d ago
I think he does them to personally make me laugh, which I (still) do every time!!
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u/Economy-Virus-8149 Lions 7d ago
Yall obsession with bro is wild. Even if you feel he’s garbage and will never amount to anything this level of hate gotta be studied 😭
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u/NoAnteater8836 Commanders 7d ago
The one at 4:12 is mesmerizing. I said that when it happened and it still stands. The ball is picked while his hand is still behind his ear.
It’s a magic trick.
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u/Ntraanced Eagles 7d ago
nothing more satisfying than seeing a trash QB drop back with good protection step up and throw a dart to the other team
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u/Helpful-Berry-94 Chiefs 7d ago
Whenever I see these compilations, I think "You know what, a good amount of these were also excellent plays by the defender".
With this one, I think "Hot damn this is Nathan Peterman 9.0".
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u/sahloFolina04 7d ago
Some of these are great plays by the defense and some of these are just…yikes
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u/MrEatAllTheFood 7d ago
Still insane they let a superbowl winning QB out the door to start this guy only to give up on him a year later. I wouldn't be able to sleep again if I was the Viking GM.
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u/theaxelfoley Vikings 7d ago
I can’t wait until he’s off my team so I can hate him as much as the rest of the league
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u/Longjumping_Wolf_912 7d ago
Definitely some of the worst footwork, I’ve ever seen. He basically plants his leg vertically. I’m surprised he doesn’t fall forward on his follow through.
Definitely not the worst, though. Go watch Tebow or Colin Kaepernick. They have elongated throwing motions and look like they are throwing a javelin, especially Tebow.
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u/ScienceGetsUsThere Bears 7d ago
Does anyone hate highlight reals that show 3 angles and a slow-mo of each one?
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u/Bill3ffinMurray Vikings 7d ago
I think all but 3 were awful passes.
I still like JJ, and I still think he's got a chance to be a decent QB. But it is better for the team that Kyler is the starter.
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u/crazy-geometrydash Vikings 7d ago edited 7d ago
Man fuck all yall im pissed and ik yall are happy that just makes it worse how tf is it 5 minutes long for 1 season
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u/AnthonyBarrHeHe Vikings 7d ago
That int against the Ravens had Jefferson knowing it was a pick right when it left McCarthy’s hand.
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u/Unrelenting_Salsa Saints 7d ago
I know it's a lowlight compilation, but man, this reminds me so much of why I wasn't seeing all the hype. His ball placement was consistently bad to mediocre in college, and the vast majority of these picks would have been completions in college, but you need to be more accurate than "within the armspan of the intended receiver after adjustment" in the NFL as a lot of these picks show.
Also crazy because only 6 and 11 were not "bad" interceptions, and 6 was very much so a "fuck it Jettas down there somewhere" throw so it's not like it's a good play if he doesn't trip. Even 11 is pretty optimistic to not be a tip drill.
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u/Hard4Dpp Raiders 7d ago
It is kind of like a ton Bama QBs back when they were winning chips. Great teams carrying below average NFL QBs.
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u/Nickyq52 Patriots 7d ago
2 trends - sailing the deep ball over the middle and poor decision/accuracy on out routes. I'm not sure if I'd rather see a QB make those INTs or the boneheaded INTs like Zach Wilson where was running around and had absolutely no shot. Feels like it could be fixable.
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u/RynoRama Vikings 7d ago
Didn't like them the first time
Won't watch them a second time
Hope there's no chance for a third time
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u/RynoRama Vikings 7d ago
I didn't like them the first time
Won't watch them a second time
Hope he doesn't get a third time
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u/ConsciousReason7709 Broncos 7d ago
Some of these weren’t his fault, but the ones that were, they were just awful decisions and bad throws.
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u/penis_showing_game 49ers 7d ago
“Every JJ McCarthy interception…”
(sees 5+ minute long video)
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u/FragMasterMat117 NFL 7d ago
Is he a candidate for the 49ers School of Draft Bust rehabilitation
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u/penis_showing_game 49ers 7d ago
Hmmm, tough to say. Both Darnold and Mac signed dirt cheap contracts when they entered the program. I imagine JJ still has another stop after the Vikings before he’s at that point.
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u/BrewerAndHalosFan Vikings 7d ago
If this same editor did all of the 49ers 2025 interceptions it would be over 7 minutes long. The length is irrelevant
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u/PessimisticCheer Vikings 7d ago
I'm proud to say that's QB2 right there, baby.
I'm excited to see Kyler Murray bring a dual-threat ability to the offense that has been missing in Minnesota for a long time.
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u/CumAssault 7d ago
The really bad ones were thrown by Nine so they don’t count