Hope vs. Hype for the 2025 Vikings
The offseason is better for NFL fans than it used to be. The vast gap that used to exist between the draft and training camp made it feel like the season was a year away, rather than just months.
The NFL has done a great job of spacing out OTAs, minicamps, and training camp so NFL fans feel like the season is always happening even when it isn’t. There have been some good and some bad aspects to this lack of time, making us yearn for the season to start.
VikingsTerritory’s Tony Schultz examines some of the Vikings’ hopes this season, along with the hype.
When OTAs hit the press, on-site is the best way to let us all know who is performing best on the field as the team runs through drills and tosses the ball around. The number one phrase you hear is “he looked good” when they refer to players running around making plays against no one, for the most part.
The one thing that gets under my skin is those who live and die by how someone performs at one of these practices. Now, there is a distinct difference between talking about how smoothly a player runs a route, stays with a receiver as a defensive back, throws a ball with zip or accuracy, or how they physically look without pads on.
The stories or simple tweets you read that show a “stat” are interesting, but are not necessarily all telling in a player’s career trajectory. If a defensive player keeps getting his ankles broken on simple routes or a receiver keeps dropping easy passes in front of everyone, it can be cause for concern. Sometimes, some coaching up fixes things, and sometimes that player is a camp casualty, released back into the free agency market to catch on somewhere else.
Quarterback is definitely the one that can be the most polarizing. The microscope is so focused on them that every little thing they do seems to make the timelines and headlines. When your quarterback is new or a rookie, it is almost unavoidable to get practice stats daily.
The Hype
Let me introduce the uninitiated to Kyries Hebert, who was an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college ball at Louisiana-Lafayette as a safety. All we kept hearing from training camp was how well he was doing. Every day, he was talked about breaking up a pass or being right where he was supposed to be on a play.
The hype train was rolling along for him, per the reporters on site and even from some of the coaches. Then, when the final cuts came, he was gone and never did much in the NFL before moving north to Canada to play in the CFL. Observers became too caught up in the hope that he was showing to create hype that didn’t exist. It was so strong that 23 years later, people still wonder who will be this year’s “Kyries Hebert” training camp darling.
JJ McCarthy is now in his second season as the focus of this attention. Everything he does at practice is being watched and scrutinized to see if he’s the real deal or if he’s a bust waiting to be exposed.
National media, as well as the local guys, jump on this bandwagon to the point of making it feel like it’s a competition between teams without ever hitting the field. In fact, I’ve seen posts where people are posting JJ’s stats on how many interceptions he’s thrown at camp, and others arguing about them, ranging from him being a Hall of Fame player to an absolute bust.
The national media seems to have glommed onto it and are using it as their way to dignify the speculation that the Vikings weren’t 100% in on McCarthy this offseason. Colin Cowherd went absolutely off on how JJ doesn’t have anything special that jumps off the page for him to think that he’ll even be good. He even went so far as to say that the Vikings. “…flirted with other quarterbacks…” as if the team was out actively looking for a replacement instead of finding a worthy backup.
Many side-eyed his take over the last few days and have jokingly posted McCarthy’s stats compared to others, namely Sam Darnold’s, to mock his early dismissal of the young quarterback.
Fans are no less prone to branding a player as a success or failure, either based on these observations. I’ve seen it over the years where a player has a questionable camp and a few noisy critics label them a bust, or they’re hailed as the greatest thing before pads have been introduced to them, or they play in an actual live game.
Cowherd points out that JJ threw an interception on 3 consecutive days in practice. Not consecutive throws. Days! A young quarterback doing that against some pretty good defensive backs might have that happen. The staff may also be making adjustments to see how he responds. His response has been not to make that same mistake, as far as observers can see from their perches or from behind their screens.
The videos of beautiful passes to wide-open wide receivers are cool to see to judge his velocity and ball placement, but don’t have the added pressure of a game going on around them with 300-pound grown men trying to smash him into the turf. You can’t sit there and crown someone off those. Getting caught up in the “hype” is going to really bum you out when he has a bad day on the field.
The Hope
As I mentioned earlier, the common phrase about how a player looks is more telling. When I read articles from or hear scribes like Ben Goessling, Alec Lewis, or Kevin Seifert discuss camp and players on KFAN, I concentrate mostly on what they say about how a player looks or reacts.
The same goes for former players weighing in. One of the bigger points that has popped up is how a player has gotten well, bigger. Many took note of Jalen Nailor’s physical growth from last season, as he has bulked up a bit more. Does that immediately mean that he’s going to catch 60 balls for over 1000 yards? Nope. He just improved.
When they talk about Justin Jefferson making a crazy catch in practice, does it mean he’ll do the same in a game this season? Not really. When players make great plays, the real thing that matters is whether they look consistent in that action. The same can be said when they have a bad reputation or even a bad day; do they consistently make the same mistake or not perform to expectations?
Cowherd questioned McCarthy’s arm strength and release speed to the point of making it sound like he has a noodle arm. We’ve all seen nothing professionally game-wise other than a small morsel of a preseason game last year, where all his throws were mainly on target and had the required zip that NFL players show every week. He threw one interception, but growing pains are to be expected.
Just listening to Ben Leber talk to Eric Nordquist on Nine to Noon with Paul Allen on Thursday, he was asked about McCarthy. He basically said that it’s not just his physical abilities that make JJ special, but he has “it”.
We’ve heard that a ton since he’s arrived from coaches, players, and even media members that he has an aura that exudes positivity and confidence. He’s not cocky or places himself above everyone else and, in fact thanks and calls reporters by name during press conferences. That might change a little the first bad game he faces and gets thrown the tougher questions at him, but you can see the young man has poise that he shouldn’t have a Ryan Leaf-like meltdown on camera.
When you hear Justin Jefferson talk him up, Harrison Phillips somewhat compares him to a young Josh Allen, and Head Coach Kevin O’Connell does nothing but talk positively about him, you can say that is “hype”. Really, it’s not as if they’re talking about what they see, just like reporters. Put all that together, and that gives the team and fans hope that he will be a great quarterback for his career.
When he hits the field and you see all those things meshing together, then the “hope” turns into “hype” that you can believe.
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