J.J. McCarthy is a quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. He was a four star prospect coming out of high school, where he would sign on to play for the Michigan Wolverines. McCarthy would see playing time in blow outs during his first two seasons with the team, and at the beginning of his Junior season it was announced that he has earned the starting job. He would go on a historic run with a win loss record of 27-1 record, and the best win-loss percentage from any quarterback since 1971. McCarthy would lead his team to a National Championship victory in 2024, and later he entered the NFL Draft.
Michigan ran an extremely conservative offense, rarely pushing the ball downfield which became a major question on McCarthy's profile. Detractors believed that if he never did it in college, he would be unable to do so in the NFL. Not only did they rarely push the ball downfield, he threw the ball at low rate. He never had more than 340 pass attempts in his two seasons at Michigan. His low turnover rate (9 interceptions in two years) paired with his absurd 72% completion percentage from his senior season boosted his draft stock.
He had a good combine performance, and would be drafted in the first round by the Minnesota Vikings. He will join Sam Darnold in the QB room and while Darnold may start the season, McCarthy projects to finish the season as the starting quarterback of the Vikings. If all goes according to plan, McCarthy will be starting many more games in future seasons for the Vikings.
