Vikings Nopedy Nopes: Jaire Alexander to Vikings, J.J. McCarthy Slander, Under Pressure
The Minnesota Vikings never have a dull moment, as the internet spins some of the wildest takes imaginable.
On weekends, we publish Vikings “nopedy nopes,” which are Vikings-themed takes, opinions, and soundbites that are just too wild or flatly false.
It’s the nature of the beast, and we track such “nopedy nopes” weekly. Sometimes the nopedy nopes are literal — like this week with cornerback Jaire Alexander.
Here’s the batch for the second week in June. Last week’s can be read here.
The Nopedy Nope: The Vikings are in on Jaire Alexander’s free agency.
The Vikings were reportedly not a part of the first six teams to inquire about Alexander’s new free agency, per Josina Anderson.
And KSTP’s Darren Wolfson said on SKOR North this week, “I can’t necessarily quantify how many teams have touched base, it might be two, it might be four, plural, more than one, but the Vikings are not one of the teams in these first handful of hours that Jaire has hit the market.”
“I was told last night that at some point going back months, I don’t know the exact date, the Vikings registered some level of interest. But this may have been before Byron Murphy Jr. was re-signed. You make the move on Isaiah Rodgers, Jeff Okudah, having a better sense of Mekhi Blackmon, so I can’t necessarily tell you the exact date that the Vikings registered interest.”
If you want Alexander to sign with the Vikings, the early indicators, unfortunately, are not there.
Verdict: Alexander to Minnesota may be a nopedy nope.
The Nopedy Nope: J.J. McCarthy lacks arm strength.
Some weird theorists have claimed for a while that J.J. McCarthy lacks the requisite arm strength to succeed in the pros.
So, SKOR North’s Judd Zulgad asked McCarthy at minicamp, “There were scouting reports from credible sources that you didn’t have arm strength or it was okay. Do you know where that started? Or how surprised were you? Because in watching you for five practices, there might be some things I see, but it ain’t arm strength.”
McCarthy replied, “That’s a great question, Judd. I would say, a lot of it just comes with the stigma of playing at Michigan and not throwing the ball a lot. At the same time, it could be my frame. They don’t see a 6’5″, 240 guy, so how can he throw it 61 miles an hour at the combine and all that? But at the end of the day, it’s gonna show up.”
“And the people that know, know. I think it’s just the situations I’ve been in and maybe not passing the eye test for some people.”
A classy response, the criticism didn’t make much sense in the first place, and McCarthy knocked the reply out of the park.
Verdict: Nopedy nope on the idea that McCarthy’s arm is mid.
The Nopedy Nope: J.J. McCarthy is under tremendous pressure this year, his first as a starter.
NFL pundits have debated which NFC North passer is most under the gun for 2025. ESPN’s Peter Schrager thinks it’s McCarthy.
He said on Get Up this week, “We’re focusing so much on Caleb this offseason and we’re just assuming that everything is fine in Minnesota, and because O’Connell and Kwesi decided to put their faith in J.J. McCarthy, that we know that this team is gonna be just as good as they were a year ago. Minnesota has everything you could want there already, it’s just plug and play.”
“Caleb Williams, you’re asking him to learn a new coach, a new offensive coordinator, an entirely new skill set of players.”
Dan Orlovsky countered by saying that Caleb Williams is under more pressure than McCarthy: “It’s really hard as a quarterback to do all that and not have the people than to do it with the people. Chicago got the people. I’ll go back to when Sean McVay went to LA, it was like ‘oh, Jared Goff doesn’t stink.’ When Mike McDaniel went to Miami, it was like ‘Oh man, Tua can play.’ And so now, there’s not gonna be any grace for Caleb Williams.”
“You have one of the hottest offensive minds in football. You’re gonna have a top-ten offensive line. You’ve got first-round pick, second-round pick, first-round pick, first-round pick at perimeter player. This is a place where a quarterback who is as talented as Caleb.”
McCarthy hasn’t taken an NFL snap. He’s essentially a rookie. He needs time to develop. McCarthy is not facing make-or-break stakes in 2025.
Verdict: Nopedy nope on McCarthy totally under the gun or on the hot seat.
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