“He Looked Promising”: PFF Has Minnesota Vikings Quarterback J.J. McCarthy As Reason For Optimism In 2025 Despite Conflicting Reports

There are many people who are skeptical about Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy entering the 2025 NFL season. He missed his entire rookie season because of a torn meniscus and there will be many questions about him entering the 2025 NFL season after Sam Darnold left for the Seattle Seahawks in free agency.

The Vikings have a roster put together that could maybe be Super Bowl caliber. McCarthy has a chance to either get them to that big game or he will be a reason why Minnesota will not make it far. Pro Football Focus listed one reason for each NFL team entering the 2025 season as why they should be optimistic.

Pro Football Focus writer Dalton Wasserman wrote about why each NFL team should be optimistic entering the 2025 season. Wasserman thinks that McCarthy is the reason why Vikings fans should be hopeful entering the 2025 season despite some conflicting reports of him struggling to this point. Wasserman said,

“Quarterback J.J. McCarthy didn’t get to play any regular-season snaps due to a knee injury, but he looked promising in his lone preseason start on his way to an 84.0 PFF passing grade. There is no obstacle to McCarthy starting, and he should be able to succeed in Kevin O’Connell’s play-action-heavy attack.

Over his final two seasons at Michigan, McCarthy posted a 91.7 play-action PFF passing grade that ranked second in the Power Four, behind current Falcons starter Michael Penix Jr.”

 

There is no doubt that Minnesota will have elite weapons around him. Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Aaron Jones, and T.J. Hockenson will be some of the key weapons in this Vikings offense. As long as the offensive line holds up its end of the bargain, there is no excuse for McCarthy to not perform well. Minnesota traded up one spot in the 2024 NFL Draft to select him and McCarthy needs to prove that they were right from the get-go.