The Crucial Ingredient J.J. McCarthy Must Supply for the Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings will embark on a brand new era in 19 days, fully handing the QB1 insignia to J.J. McCarthy after an offseason of Aaron Rodgers, Sam Darnold, and Daniel Jones speculation.
The Vikings’ future may hinge on one key factor J.J. McCarthy must offer. His ability to step up in tough moments could define Minnesota’s 2025 campaign.
The franchise has fully committed to McCarthy, its 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
And while fans are elated to see his maturation and development, the organization really just needs the man to provide one crucial ingredient: the ability to carry the team off-schedule.
The Vikings Really Just Need One Thing from J.J. McCarthy
It comes down to one item for McCarthy and the Vikings.
J.J. McCarthy Must Elevate the Vikings When Things Are Bad
Countless pundits and fans will study McCarthy’s every throw — they’re already doing that — which is totally fine, considering the purple team has so much hope invested in the Michigan alumnus.
So, yes, the statistics will be vital. Anything near or higher than 3,000 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions (ballpark figures) as a rookie will be deemed a success.
Yet, where McCarthy can truly win hearts is through adversity. For example, when the defense has an awful game — guaranteed to happen eventually — or a keynote playmaker is injured, Minnesota must rely on McCarthy to “do the rest.”
It’s why Patrick Mahomes is classified as the standard bearer over the last half-decade. It’s why Tom Brady is compared to goats.
The Vikings need a fragment of that. Purple fans are cynical enough to understand that McCarthy probably won’t be Mahomes or Brady, but some close ballpark comparison to Joe Burrow, at least in crunchtime, will earn oodles of goodwill.
That’s Really the One Thing
Let’s not sugarcoat it: that is the single-most important trait McCarthy can showcase and develop. His clutch gene. Does anyone even remotely care that the Vikings delivered 35 passing touchdowns last year, an impressive mark, generally speaking?
No — they don’t give a damn because the team flamed out of the playoffs in embarrassing fashion. Minnesota didn’t look like it belonged in the postseason after producing an unforeseen 14-3 record.
Statistics and PFF grades will accompany McCarthy, along the way, no matter what, but he will be judged based on his 4th Quarter performance — his late-game heroics, or lack thereof.
If McCarthy posts 2,800 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, and 16 picks in 2025 — but sparks wins late in games, all will be forgiven.
The people just need to see the guy exude a coveted “it factor.” If McCarthy delivers in crucial spots, “the rest” is destined to arrive in due time.
Sam Darnold Failed
Sam Darnold absolutely reclaimed his career in the Twin Cities last season with Kevin O’Connell’s embrace. The guy even nibbled at MVP chatter for a few weeks in 2024.
However, no Vikings fan cares about him anymore. Why? He was morbidly useless when the team needed him the most. He crumbled. Faceplanted. Sam Darnold played like Sam Darnold when the lights were the brightest. Continuing his career in Seattle, he won’t be entirely trusted until he rectifies those postseason sins … with a playoff win.
Delivering 36 total touchdowns in a season, with a 14-3 record to boot, but playing terribly in the playoffs like owning a superyacht with no rudder. Futile.
Kirk Cousins Floundered
Kirk Cousins, on the other hand, played tremendously in his last playoff showing, a 2022 loss at home to the New York Giants. He singlehandedly kept Minnesota alive in that Wildcard contest when the defense performed like a bag of dung.
Ask yourself, however: What’s the only thing anybody remembers about that game? Cousins “throwing short of the sticks on 4th Down.”
Cousins hoped that T.J. Hockenson could make a play that evening to extend the game. Hockenson did not. Cousins took the heat, and the defensive coordinator was canned a few days later.
McCarthy needs to be the leader who, like Cousins, keeps the Vikings in the game when the rest of the operation struggles, and in the most pivotal moment, finds Justin Jefferson for a 1st Down … on 4th Down. It’s those kinds of transactions that will define his time in Minnesota.
More on McCarthy
CBS Sports‘ Cody Benjamin weighed in on McCarthy’s outlook in 2025 and beyond this week.
He opined, “Now comes what should be the hardest part: carrying the progression of the offseason into the real season and growing on the fly, all while Vikings Nation tunes in each week expecting a linear climb to playoff contention. McCarthy has the moxie to handle this. He might also have the necessary weapons at his disposal.”
“To provide instant gratification to a front office that’s actually sought the opposite in parting with proven, more expensive veterans at the position? We’ll say this: Even if McCarthy can’t match Darnold’s 30 touchdowns from a year ago, you can bet everyone in Minnesota — the coaches, the executives, the players and the fans — will throw their support behind him if he finds a way to finish in a way that neither Darnold nor Cousins nor, well, most Vikings quarterbacks ever did.”
It’s worth noting that McCarthy will become the Vikings’ first-ever quarterback drafted in the Top 10 to start a game on September 8th. That is, a Top 10 pick chosen by the Vikings. He is the highest-picked passer in franchise history.
“And there’s reason to believe, based off both his college career and limited camp/preseason snaps against other teams, that most of McCarthy’s appeal is in his immeasurable knack for elevating play in critical situations. We’re fresh off an NFL season in which the ultimate trophy was given not to the splashiest or sexiest quarterback but the one who came up big when he was needed most,” Benjamin continued.
“If McCarthy can bring just a taste of that reality to the Midwest, the Vikings will have a winner on their hands. And no one — not a soul — will care whether he went 7-for-7 in one-on-ones at training camp.”
It all comes down to McCarthy’s clutch gene in pressure-cooked moments, and if he can elevate the team when it needs him the most, which Sam Darnold and Kirk Cousins could not wholly provide.
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