What can we learn from J.J. McCarthy from Minnesota Vikings OTAs?

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Tyler Forness discusses what Minnesota Vikings fans should expect to learn about second year QB J.J. McCarthy at OTAs!

Transcript

00:00JJ McCarthy is a new Viking starting quarterback, but what should we expect from him at this point

00:05in the offseason? The answers may surprise you. The Minnesota Vikings are entering the third

00:13phase of OTAs, which means you can actually have somewhat real practices. And that's going to be

00:18really huge for the Minnesota Vikings because they have a lot of people that need to integrate into

00:24the system and there needs to be a lot of chemistry built, mainly at quarterback. As JJ McCarthy is

00:29set to take over for Sam Darnold after missing all of last season with a torn meniscus. Now,

00:35there are some things to really understand about this thing with JJ McCarthy. Yes, he missed the

00:40entire season. No, he was always in the building. So it wasn't like it was a complete waste of a year.

00:47Yeah, he didn't get to practice. Sure, he didn't get to actually play in any games other than the

00:52one preseason game where he was a standout. But there are a lot of things that you can gain

00:57from being in the building, from learning from guys like Sam Darnold, from watching film with

01:03your coaches and to talk to the people on defense, sit in on other meetings and learn and absorb.

01:10And he's going to be way, way farther ahead than any true rookie starting quarterback than a lot of

01:17first year starting quarterbacks. But we also have to temper our expectations. There's a lot of

01:22excitement. There is a lot of hype surrounding McCarthy. He was the 10th overall pick and

01:27Kevin O'Connell has been known as a QB whisperer. But what do we want to learn about JJ McCarthy here

01:32at OTAs? We want to learn that the mechanics are looking good. We want to learn that his process

01:37is going well. We want to see some chemistry building with teammates. But the main thing we

01:43want to learn is something that you don't necessarily think about when it comes to the quarterback

01:47position. Command. Yes, you have a new center who has to learn all the plays. You have a new right

01:55guard who has to learn all the plays. You have a returning Christian Derisaw at left tackle.

02:01And you have a first time starting quarterback. Now, one of the things that I talked about a lot

02:06this offseason prior to free agency was, hey, Garrett Bradbury, he's not great, but he's got this

02:11continuity at center that would be really good for a young quarterback because he understands all the

02:16playbooks, he understands all the protections, and there's not going to be a learning curve with

02:20him. Well, there is a learning curve with both the center, Ryan Kelly, and with McCarthy. So

02:26having that is going to take a little bit of an extra step that you really didn't want to have

02:32happen. Now, if Bradbury and McCarthy would have had to, you know, figure out their own chemistry,

02:38Bradbury is starting at a much better playing field than what Ryan Kelly is because of that

02:43experience in Kevin O'Connell's offense. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. This isn't

02:48necessarily, oh my gosh, this is a huge, huge red flag. It's just an extra variable added to the

02:53equation. So you want to see McCarthy show that kind of command. You want to see Ryan Kelly be able to

02:58help his quarterback out. You want to see that kind of chemistry start to grow. You can't expect it to

03:03be ready. It needs to be ready by training camp. You need to have that kind of cohesion. And in training

03:10camp, you can still iron out some of the bugs. But by week one, you need to be pretty much 100%.

03:16I know what you're doing. You know what I'm doing. And that can be a difficult task to accomplish

03:21during the course of one offseason. But you want to see that kind of confidence. You want to see him

03:25learning from his mistakes. And if he makes one, don't make it again. Those are the things that

03:29you're going to look for when it comes to McCarthy OTAs. Now, these aren't publicly available.

03:34You can't just go to OTAs. But what you can do is listen and learn. Read between the lines when it

03:43comes to how the beat writers are talking about it, how Kevin O'Connell answers questions when the

03:49media speaks to him, how McCarthy answers questions, how other players will respond to the media when

03:55those conversations happen. Those are going to be the biggest thing. We already know McCarthy is

04:00incredibly mature for his age based on how he presents himself to the media. We know that

04:05he's got all the talent to work with. We know that he's in a fantastic situation when it comes to

04:11Kevin O'Connell, when it comes to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and TJ Hawkinson, when it comes to

04:15that offensive line that's going to be completely rebuilt and ready to roll. But how is he going to

04:21adapt to all of those situations? It's a big question. And we cannot give you a firm answer.

04:26Is that fun to say? No. People will tell you, oh, he's going to be great. We don't know that.

04:32We believe so. We project so. But he's got to do it. And until he does it, there's always going to

04:39be that lingering thing up in your head. The little voice that says, what if he's Christian Ponder? What

04:45if he's bad? That's going to stay there until he proves it. And that's where OTAs come in. Start to

04:53show that real command of the offense. That real command that this is your team now.

04:59I don't see why he can't do that.

05:02I'm Tyler Fornes with ADZ Sports. Skull Vikings.

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