Episode Description
Minnesota Tim discusses the situation surrounding J.J. McCarthy as he prepares to become the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. The conversation highlights both the advantages and challenges McCarthy faces in his rookie season, emphasizing the high expectations set by the team's strong roster and coaching staff.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome into the show today.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Thank you for making this Minnesota tim podcast a part
of your day. If you're watching on YouTube or listening
somewhere else, hit that subscribe button so this podcast shows
up in your feed multiple times today sometimes and throughout
the week.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Appreciate you doing that.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
And today's topic that I want to address, and it's
been really the topic that will continue all off season long,
but we're just gonna get started talking about it right
now because that's what we do. And it of course
revolves around ja Jon McCarthy. Just yesterday, McCarthy admitted and
(00:52):
said with a happy face that the Minnesota Vikings have
not told him that he is QB one and he
actually likes that because of course he likes that. That's
classic JJ McCarthy. It's a classic football guy that wants
to earn stuff and it doctor thought as hell, he's.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
One hundred percent of course he's going to say that.
But there's another.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Interesting story that I think we need to talk about
that revolves around JJ McCarthy because there's really good news
and bad news about the situation JJ McCarthy is in.
(01:44):
The good news is obvious. Has there ever been a
quarterback that is going to be a starter his first year.
Has there ever been a guy that has walked into
a situation as great as j j McCarthy is walking into.
(02:09):
The oppositive line is revamped, you have the best wide
receiver duo in the NFL, which also includes a top five,
top ten tight end in the league. You also have
a very good running back who had his best season
(02:31):
last year. Oh and the Vikings also traded for a
death piece at running back in Jordan Mason. But that's
not it. You've got an offensive minded head coach. You've
got a defense that is also completely revamped on the
defensive line and in the secondary.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So I ask again, as.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
There ever been a situation as great as the situation
is for Jajon McCarthy walking into his first year.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
So that's the good. This is the bad.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
We are going to know immediately within the first few
weeks if Jajon McCarthy is a legitimate franchise quarterback moving
forward because of the situation that he's in. Of course,
he can make rookie mistakes and have an interception here,
(03:39):
and have a mistake here, and have a play clock
issue there. That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm
talking about is the throws McCarthy can make that is
going to be so easy to see because there are
(04:00):
no excuses. There are zero excuses for McCarthy moving forward.
You can't blame the head coach. He's one of the
brightest offensive minds in the league. Of course, people will
people always play colleague uh, terrible play call. You can't
(04:21):
blame your wide receivers for not being good enough. You
literally have the best wide receiver in the league on
your team. You can't blame the opfensive line. They just
shelled out nearly one hundred million dollars to two offensive linemen.
(04:44):
You can't blame the defense because they again shelled out
what seventy eighty million dollars to bring in Jonathan Allen
and Hardgrave. You can't blame the owners for not put
it on the right team around you. So there really
is good and bad, because as a first year starter
(05:09):
you look for the good, and the good is everywhere
and the bad is really nowhere to be found. But
because the good is so good, the bad really is
is that if he stinks, if McCarthy is no good,
(05:30):
you can't point to the Vikings roster and say, well,
if we just add another wide receiver, that will fix
McCarthy's issues. Well, if you just bring in a defensive
mind and head coach, that's gonna solve the problem. Well,
I mean the defensive line. What are you supposed to
(05:52):
do with that? You can't blame anything on the Vikings roster.
If McCarthy does not play good next season, there will
be legitimate concerns because there's no one to blame except
(06:18):
for McCarthy, and there's a lot of pressure on him.
I'm not concerned that he can't handle the pressure because
he handled the pressure pretty well at Michigan, and there's
a very similar situation at Michigan. If we're being one
hundred percent honest, Michigan great head coach, great wide receiver, corps,
(06:40):
offensive line defense. McCarthy is walking into the exact same
situation with the Vikings as he had with the Michigan Wolverines.
I mean, how lucky is McCarthy to be blessed with
(07:00):
a situation like these? I mean, you think about quarterbacks
that go to terrible situations, Sam Donald.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
With the Jets.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
I mean, could you ask for a tougher situation than
what Donald was given with the Jets. You think about
quarterbacks coming out in this year's class, cam Ward, maybe
Tennessee Titans. Is that really a great situation that you
want to go to? Maybe should do? Or Sanders, New
(07:34):
York Giants or Cleveland Browns? Are you kidding me? That's
the situation that you could land in. So you think
about where McCarthy is going, and this is literally the
best situation that any first year starting quarterback could ever have.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
And that's the great news. The bad news is that we're.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Gonna find out immediately if McCarthy is the guy moving
forward for the Minnesota Vikings. The good, the bad, and
the ugly there really is because it will be fascinating
(08:25):
to see. And I already know what the answer is
going to be. What People blame McCarthy's struggles on next
season because he's not going to be perfect every game,
But it's gonna be easy because every single fan base
in the NFL points the finger at the head coach.
(08:50):
It doesn't matter that Kevin O'Connell took Sam Darnold and
had a career reer with him fourteen and three. People
still question his coaching abilities in his play calling. It
doesn't matter that he took Kirk Cousins at the end
of his career, and before he had his ruptured Achilles
was having the best two seasons of his NFL career
(09:11):
and still somehow managed to compete for a playoff spot
with something called Josh Dobbs, Jaren Hall and Nick Mullins.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
People are still going to point the finger at Kevin
O'Connell's play calling if McCarthy struggles. But I'm gonna push
back against that because of the reasons I just said,
there are no excuses if McCarthy plays poorly next season.
Really there isn't Who are you gonna blame. I know
(09:47):
who you're gonna blame.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
But.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Actually think, don't just point the finger at the easy target.
So as great as the situation is for McCarthy, the
pushback against the situation when you think about every angle,
because that's what I do. I think about, Okay, he's
(10:11):
got a great situation like this, What does that mean? Well,
it means that if he's in as great a situation
as it looks on paper, there's really nobody to blame
except for McCarthy.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Because excuses are off the table.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Your roster is perfect, and that the roster is ready
to win a Super Bowl. So that's the good and
the bad with j Jon McCarthy entering his first year
starting because let's face the facts, McCarthy will be QB
one next year. Even if he struggles in the spring,
(10:49):
he will be QB one. The Vikings haven't admitted it.
They haven't even told him that. McCarthy likes that, but
he's QB one. So it's going to be a fascinating
year because of how good the Vikings roster is and
because of the QB situation. So hit that subscribe button
(11:13):
and follow button wherever.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
You are listening.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I appreciate that, and thank you for making this podcast
a part of your day.