Turns Out the Vikings Have a ‘Loser’ QB
You have reached the point in the Minnesota Vikings’ summer where their shiny new quarterback has been called a “loser” for his training camp performance.
Bleacher Report took off the gloves in its latest training camp takeaways, naming a promising Vikings player one of the league’s biggest “losers” so far.
The assessment doesn’t make much sense, but Bleacher Report assigned the dreaded noun nevertheless.
Here’s the skinny on J.J. McCarthy as a loser.
Vikings QB Rocked by Out-of-Left-Field Description
Minnesota apparently has a training camp loser in the mix.
Bleacher Report Calls J.J. McCarthy a Training Camp Loser
BR’s Gary Davenport examined NFL training camps this week, assigning titles of winners and losers along the way. For his featured loser quarterback, McCarthy got the call.
Davenport wrote, “The Minnesota Vikings made J.J. McCarthy a top-10 pick in the 2024 draft and appeared willing to hand him the keys to the offense as a rookie. A knee injury ended McCarthy’s inaugural campaign before it began, but the Vikings have once again entrusted him to lead the offense, allowing 2024 starter Sam Darnold to depart in free agency.”
“So far in camp, that McCarthy-led offense has struggled—so much so that per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, head coach Kevin O’ Connell made a point of saying, ‘The sky has not fallen, so it’s all good.’ Star wide receiver Justin Jefferson preached patience.”
Most purple fans saw the BR article and had to do a double take.
Davenport concluded, “It’s hardly time to press the panic button, and we have seen O’Connell coax solid play from a number of different quarterbacks. But after winning 14 games last year, the Vikings have lofty expectations in 2025. And those expectations ratchet up the pressure on McCarthy to be a quick study.”
Can’t please everybody.
A Brutal — Inaccurate, Even — Assessment
From Vikings-themed media, on top of fans in attendance in Eagan, no one has walked away with a “loser” takeaway regarding McCarthy or anything close to it.
McCarthy has played well at camp, even if Brian Flores’ defense is a hellishly brutal unit. The man hasn’t been flawless, but the standard is not utter perfection at training camp. It never has been, and it never will be.
Contrarily, most reasonable thinkers would coin McCarthy a camp “winner,” if those people have seen the tape or ventured in person to Eagan.
Other Vikings QBs Have Looked Brutal at Times
On the other hand, Vikings QB2 Sam Howell has struggled at camp and is much closer to a loser label than McCarthy. By light years.
Howell couldn’t shake pestering interceptions through the first week and a half of camp, only seeming to turn it around in the last few days. Next up for Howell? The preseason, where he will play extensively, as McCarthy will only see a few drives in August on the whole.
Go Time in 34 Days
To be clear, a national analysis of McCarthy’s camp — especially one that feels flat-out wrong — does not matter. He’s less than five weeks from authoring his own story when it matters the most in the regular season.
He’s also a de facto rookie per experience. The man is guaranteed to struggle at times. It’s how the NFL works.
McCarthy will personally dictate terms, winners, and losers on September 8th.
BR High on Drake Maye
Of course, Davenport wasn’t shy about pounding the table for training camp winners.
On New England Patriots passer Drake Maye, he noted, “Some of the shine of Drake Maye’s training camp came off when the second-year pro threw a pair of interceptions during a scrimmage Friday. But Maye also led three scoring drives in the practice, and the interceptions were his first of camp.”
“Those struggles underscore that no player is going to have a perfect camp — but Maye has drawn consistent praise in camp, both for the accuracy of his throws and the athleticism he has shown with his legs. While speaking to reporters, Maye said that he is trying to combine the two.”
Minnesota was heavily linked to Maye via draft trade speculation last offseason.
Davenport added, “When he does decide to scramble, he’s still keeping his eyes downfield and looking for open receivers. Maye showed some flashes as a rookie playing for a bad team with a porous offensive line and a less-than-imposing group of receivers.”
“In the offseason, the team took major steps to address both of those deficiencies and put Maye in position to take a major step forward in his second season. So far, so good.”
Davenport also said about Travis Hunter in Jacksonville: “There isn’t a rookie in training camps this year generating more enthusiasm and curiosity than Travis Hunter of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The second overall pick in April’s draft played both ways in college, and fans and pundits alike have been waiting to see what head coach Liam Coen has in store for the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.”
McCarthy and friends face the Houston Texans in a preseason showdown on Saturday afternoon.
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