Jayden Daniels or Justin Herbert-level expectations were never placed on J.J. McCarthy for his first year as a starter, but even the Minnesota Vikings wouldn’t have expected things to look this rough.
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Through five starts, McCarthy has completed just 52.9% of his passes, owns the lowest passer rating among all 33 qualified quarterbacks, and has produced only two wins. But both were powered more by the defense and run game than anything he’s done through the air.
Naturally, this inconsistency from their quarterback has led Minnesota to a 4-6 record, with star wideout Justin Jefferson’s production being nearly cut in half with McCarthy under center. And the worst part is that all of this is just the on-field piece.
The Vikings are also dealing with something they didn’t fully account for when they drafted him: J.J. McCarthy can’t stay healthy. He missed his entire rookie year, entered this season coming off multiple injuries, and even now, the team has publicly tiptoed around his readiness, something that’s raising eyebrows all over the league.
That’s the exact issue Colin Cowherd went after on the latest edition of The Herd. He essentially said that the red flags around J.J. McCarthy were equally about the accuracy and his arm talent, as it is about the overall vibes surrounding him.
Cowherd referenced Diana Russini’s reporting, highlighting how strange McCarthy’s availability timeline has been.
“It was like they were hiding or suppressing information,” he said of the QB’s camp performance, noting the odd sequence where Carson Wentz tried playing through a torn labrum before landing on when McCarthy suddenly became “healthy enough” to play. “It does feel weird,” hence Cowherd said bluntly.
He then laid out the uncomfortable truth. If J.J. McCarthy played any other position, none of this would matter. But at quarterback, it definitely does, because a quarterback is the executor of the will, the position every coach, player, and franchise depends on, Cowherd argued.
“Quarterbacks have to be more mature, faster… And the weird thing doesn’t play… You can’t have a quarterback like that… He could have 27 starts already [like Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Bo Nix], but he’s got five.”
“If he was a cornerback, a wide receiver, a weak side linebacker, or a safety… I wouldn’t care as much about his slow start.”@colincowherd weighs in on J.J. McCarthy’s status with the Vikings pic.twitter.com/q7NcQryNl4
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) November 20, 2025
It’s arguments like these that intensify the pressure on J.J. McCarthy. Because across the league, every quarterback who was drafted alongside McCarthy in the first round has either grown into a bona fide starter or breaking records like Nix, Daniels, and Maye.
J.J., meanwhile, has been part of a regression considering Minnesota is worse than last year with Sam Darnold, the bargain-bin bridge QB they moved on from to give McCarthy the keys.
Right now, HC Kevin O’Connell would be hoping that his quarterback’s development isn’t linear, and that flashes eventually become consistency. But as things stand, through five starts, all J.J. McCarthy has done is reveal weaknesses in accuracy, timing, health, and poise. And that’s perhaps why Colin Cowherd believes the Vikings have a real problem on their hands.
