'21 IL QB JJ McCarthy (Michigan Verbal)

Ndaccountant

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theres-an-aroma-stinks.gif
 

DCDomer

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Tale of two halves. I'm convinced Kevin O'Connell could make chicken salad with anyone.
 

Irish du Nord

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Gotta feel like he’s a downgrade from Darnold, no? I get wanting to get a younger guy in there and avoid the Darnold vet contract, but if you’re in a “win now” situation I think you have to take the established guy
 

NorthDakota

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Gotta feel like he’s a downgrade from Darnold, no? I get wanting to get a younger guy in there and avoid the Darnold vet contract, but if you’re in a “win now” situation I think you have to take the established guy
Vikings fans really got a bad taste in their mouths with Darnold at the end of last year. I'm not sure if they had the money to keep him either?
 

Bane

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JJ is a dawg. First career start on the road, in primetime against a divisional rival. It was tough sledding but he never folded and rallied the team. That was the issue with Darnold. Darnold disappeared when he was really needed the most.
 

mango4

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Vikings fans really got a bad taste in their mouths with Darnold at the end of last year. I'm not sure if they had the money to keep him either?
He got 3 years and $100 million from Seattle. No way were the Vikings going to match that. It was a fun year with him last year but he was never going to be THE guy for Minnesota.

There were some growing pains last night for JJ, that pick 6 was awful but after that he looked really, really good.
 

Jiggafini19Deux

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Everything I could find (which wasn't a lot) says he's not eligible.

Also, I couldn't find any betting odds for McCarthy for Rookie of the Year. Found some odds for Comeback Player of the Year.
If he's ineligible for ROY, then he isn't considered a rookie. He's a second year player despite not having played at all in his first year due to injury.

Wonder why the NFL classifies it this way.
 

Irish du Nord

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JJ is a dawg. First career start on the road, in primetime against a divisional rival. It was tough sledding but he never folded and rallied the team. That was the issue with Darnold. Darnold disappeared when he was really needed the most.
Last year at Chicago Darnold won a similar game throwing for 330 yards. He won at Green Bay throwing for 275, 3 TDs and 1 pick in a 31-29 win. The only games where he struggled were Detroit away, a week 5 win against the Jets, and the playoff game against the Rams. But even that game he threw for 102 more yards than McCarthy did last night.

Darnold in 2024 was as good as any QB we’ve had since…Favre? Keenum in 2017 was pretty close too to be fair and Cousins was solid in 2022
 

NorthDakota

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Last year at Chicago Darnold won a similar game throwing for 330 yards. He won at Green Bay throwing for 275, 3 TDs and 1 pick in a 31-29 win. The only games where he struggled were Detroit away, a week 5 win against the Jets, and the playoff game against the Rams. But even that game he threw for 102 more yards than McCarthy did last night.

Darnold in 2024 was as good as any QB we’ve had since…Favre? Keenum in 2017 was pretty close too to be fair and Cousins was solid in 2022
Darnold's record against teams not named the Lions or Rams was 13-0. He had a couple bad games to end the season.
 

Crazy Balki

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Yeah, JJ was shit.

This was an already bad Bears defense made worse by missing 3 of their best defensive players.

Lucky for him, the Bears offense was shittier.
 

Bane

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Last year at Chicago Darnold won a similar game throwing for 330 yards. He won at Green Bay throwing for 275, 3 TDs and 1 pick in a 31-29 win. The only games where he struggled were Detroit away, a week 5 win against the Jets, and the playoff game against the Rams. But even that game he threw for 102 more yards than McCarthy did last night.

Darnold in 2024 was as good as any QB we’ve had since…Favre? Keenum in 2017 was pretty close too to be fair and Cousins was solid in 2022
The book on Darnold is he crumbles under pressure and he did nothing to really dissuade me of this opinion. And those aforementioned games were the opposite of tonight: front running to big legs and then attempted choke jobs that we had to white knuckle through.

The other thing to consider is Darnold is more or less a finished product. At his age, with his level of experience, he is who he is. JJ is 22 years old and hadn't played competitive football for 2 years and took only 12 snaps in the preseason and was tasked with making his NFL debut on the road, in primetime, against a divisional rival who are The 3x Offseason Champions. He looked predictably rough at first but what was encouraging even in the rough times he was consistently making the right decisions even if he wasn't executing but that let me know his processing was solid and eventually he figured it out.

I like Darnold and am rooting for him in Seattle. I thank him for the bridge year and the playoff run. But, he's not really a guy I think could overcome the sort of adversity. Signing him to an extension was revisiting the purgatory of the Cousins years. And it meant conceding our cap space that we used to shore up the OL. JJ may not work in the long run but it was absolute correct decision to go with him.
 

Bane

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Also, JJ feels like the first QB in my time as a Vikings fan (1998-present) where there is no obvious, automat "BUT" attached to him.

You have guys like Cunningham, Jeff George, Favre, etc. where it was like yeah they're great, BUT they're old.

Keenum and maybe Darnold: great, BUT could be a flash in the pan.

Bridgewater: lacked arm strength

Culpepper: fumble/mistake prone

Cousins: great, BUT lacked mobility and I don't know a certain "IT" factor

Then you have a bunch of dark years: Ponder, Tarvaris Jackson, McNabb, etc.

Again, one game and maybe he doesn't ultimately end up being the guy but he seems to have all of the physical, mental, and "intangible" traits. Plus, he's in a great situation with a young, offensive minded former QB HC, great skill positions, and a borderline elite defense.
 

Me2SouthBend

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Also, JJ feels like the first QB in my time as a Vikings fan (1998-present) where there is no obvious, automat "BUT" attached to him.

You have guys like Cunningham, Jeff George, Favre, etc. where it was like yeah they're great, BUT they're old.

Keenum and maybe Darnold: great, BUT could be a flash in the pan.

Bridgewater: lacked arm strength

Culpepper: fumble/mistake prone

Cousins: great, BUT lacked mobility and I don't know a certain "IT" factor

Then you have a bunch of dark years: Ponder, Tarvaris Jackson, McNabb, etc.

Again, one game and maybe he doesn't ultimately end up being the guy but he seems to have all of the physical, mental, and "intangible" traits. Plus, he's in a great situation with a young, offensive minded former QB HC, great skill positions, and a borderline elite defense.
But, how quickly you forgot. Fuck Michigan.
 
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