Whenever you have a young quarterback, it is essential to keep them under the guidance of both veterans and the coaching staff. For the Vikings, they have kept tabs on franchise quarterback J.J. McCarthy under their watchful eye for the last two seasons.
In 2025, McCarthy has played in just four games, and of the 16 quarters he has played, he has played about seven that have met the expectations we are seeing. Now, that is not to say that with more playing, he won’t develop further, but a new report from The Athletic’s Alec Lewis shows they are still keeping things close with him and his play.
Lewis shared that the team is coaching McCarthy to avoid making throws over the middle of the field. He shared, “O’Connell hasn’t explicitly stated this, but the film seems to suggest that the Vikings want to limit second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy from having to make big-time throws into traffic over the middle of the field. It’s a sensible approach, but one that requires an elite level of early-down efficiency. That’s why a greater reliance on the run game is so important. It’s also why the five false starts Sunday in first-and-10 situations against the Baltimore Ravens were so painful.”
The aforementioned need for a running game is something this team has tried to achieve in 2025, but injuries have seemingly held it back.
For any young quarterback, you want to be able to have a reliable running back to lean on. The team has had a spark with Aaron Jones and, in instances with Jordan Mason, but it hasn’t been enough. Keeping the middle of the field clear from J.J. McCarthy’s targets is limiting this offense. Perhaps that is why, with Carson Wentz, it looked more explosive at times.
At some point, the training wheels have to come off for him.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: Vikings working on making sure J.J. McCarthy cuts down on the risks
