Vikings GM Makes Curious Remark about J.J. McCarthy
Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell held a year-end press conference on Tuesday, highlighting assistant head coach Mike Pettine’s retirement, detailing some failures from the 2025 campaign, and weighing in on the future. Among the responses to reporters’ questions, Adofo-Mensah referenced a first-of-its-kind development: “incomplete information” regarding quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
The Vikings didn’t sound fully sold on McCarthy at the year-end podium, and the wording suggested a quarterback competition is around the bend.
The remark turned heads because the Vikings had previously used no such verbiage about McCarthy.
“Incomplete Information” Quip from Vikings GM Lands Weirdly
Minnesota evidently has to see a lot more from McCarthy.
Adofo-Mensah’s Comment
Asked about McCarthy, in general, and any high-level regrets, Adofo-Mensah noted “incomplete information.”
“Sometimes you have to go on incomplete information, and the information we had was all good, but it was, admittedly, incomplete and a small sample. Ultimately, we trusted in the information we had,” Adofo-Mensah remarked.
“We trusted in our coaches. We trusted in our team around him to do that. Ultimately, we’re comfortable with where we are, and we’re excited about where he can go.”
Nobody anywhere in the Vikings’ orbit has mentioned incomplete information on McCarthy’s yet. Adofo-Mensha is either referring to McCarthy’s very obvious 10-game sample or to an incomplete draft profile.
Too Few Passing Attempts at Michigan?
How would Adofo-Mensah arrive at the evidence of an incomplete evaluation? There are three theories, one of which is borderline conspiratorial. The first is that Adofo-Mensah merely means McCarthy’s 10-game sample.
The second — not a conspiracy — is the passing attempts. McCarthy has 713 of those at Michigan. Caleb Williams had 1,099 at Oklahoma and USC. Drake Maye with 952 at North Carolina. Bo Nix at Oregon? 1,286. Lamar Jackson about a decade ago: 1,086.
McCarthy’s 713 passing attempts in college didn’t quite rival his Round 1 peers and might even suggest a Round 2 or 3 draft stock.
The other theory? McCarthy’s knee. There’s a slight chance — very tiny — that McCarthy’s meniscus has already been injured at Michigan, and the 2024 preseason pushed that thing over the edge. That hypothesis is less likely than the passing attempts, but Adofo-Mensah’s mention of “incomplete information” was just so very odd.
A … Backpedal from Adofo-Mensah
Moreover, Adofo-Mensah’s comments, indeed, felt like a backpedal. Realizing that his quarterback has missed 70% of all games since turning pro and that McCarthy ranked dead last in the NFL per EPA+CPOE as a first-year starter, uplifting the notions of incomplete information is an explanation of “how it went wrong.”
Usually, at an event like Tuesday’s, Adofo-Mensah or O’Connell would declare that the 2025 QB1 will remain the QB1 in 2026, but Minnesota’s leaders did the opposite. They spoke about forthcoming quarterback plans for the offseason, explained the draft pick based on incomplete information, and reiterated that the standard is to win playoff games — not finish 9-8 and miss the tournament.
Overall, it felt like the beginning of the path to pivot away from McCarthy, especially if a better alternative becomes readily available.
SI.com‘s Kyle Koster on Adofo-Mensah’s remarks: “It’s not the answer McCarthy might want to hear. Or maybe it is, as it’ll light a fire under his feet to take a big step. Which he’ll need to do because game-managing to a 6-4 record while throwing more interceptions than touchdowns does not seem to be a sustainable recipe. At the very least, it’s not what any club wants from a top-10 pick.”
Deeper QB Room Incoming
For starters, O’Connell commended his quarterback. Let’s get that out in the open.
“J.J., I was really encouraged by the type of football he started to play towards the second half of the season and finishing the way he did. We spend a lot of time talking about what the layers of change really were,” the skipper said about McCarthy’s first year as a starter.
“And I think we all just tried to have a mindset on completions and however we could generate them, we started to see a little bit of that show up. We saw some explosives show up. We saw the ability to kind of balance that with what I thought at many points this year, our run game was productive enough for us to move the football and stay in a lot of games.”
Then, he talked about adding competition this offseason at quarterback: “Ultimately, I think in the quarterback room, it’s about having just the deepest, talented room you possibly can, every single year.”
That means a player who can compete with McCarthy is on the way — perhaps someone like Kyler Murray or Mac Jones via trade or Malik Willis from free agency.
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