It might be time to drag out one of the oldest rants in sports regarding J.J. McCarthy.
“WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR!”
To the surprise of no one with realistic expectations, the Viking quarterback has played inconsistently in his first NFL season on the field. In yesterday’s 27-19 home loss to the Ravens, he threw one touchdown pass, two interceptions and was called for one false start on a day when the team total was eight such penalties (he took the blame after the game).
He completed 20 of 42 throws for a career high 248 yards. He could have had a third interception except for a near INT by Raven linebacker Roquan Smith.
McCarthy’s completion percentage of 48 against the Ravens and 53.7 percent for the season won’t dazzle anybody. It’s a long list of rival quarterbacks who have completion percentages in the 60s and even higher. His quarterback rating of 65.8 is also subpar.
The ball sailed on McCarthy yesterday including a key fourth down ball in the fourth quarter when he overthrew a wide-open Justin Jefferson while the Vikings were trying to rally. No less authority than legendary Vikings coach Bud Grant used to say great physical attributes in a quarterback don’t mean much if accuracy is an issue.
In fairness to the 22-year-old McCarthy, we’ve seen a small sample size of his work as he made just his fourth start yesterday in the loss that dropped the Vikings record to 4-5. Daniel House, the analytics whiz, pro football authority and blogger, believes about 22 games of experience can tell the tale of a young NFL quarterback.
If that’s the metric, judgment day for McCarthy will come around mid-season in 2026. Assuming McCarthy continues his up and down play the rest of the season, but finds a steady path in 2026, he could duplicate the path of two second-season NFL quarterbacks on a roll right now.
Drake Maye and Caleb Williams were selected in the same 2024 NFL Draft that the Vikings chose McCarthy. They played as rookies, while McCarthy sat out the season with a knee injury. Maye has thrown 19 touchdown passes for the AFC East Division leading Patriots, while Williams has tossed 13 for the 6-3 Bears who finished last in the NFC North Division in 2024.
Worth Noting
Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman had 11 tackles in the loss to the Ravens, his third consecutive game with at least 10 tackles.
Kicker Will Reichard made field goals of 43 and 49 yards in the game. He has converted 18 of 20 this season, and in his second NFL season he has yet to miss an extra point.
Safety Harrison Smith, 36, is now tied with former offensive tackle Ron Yary for the sixth most games (199) ever played by a Viking.
Sharp shopper: A buyer at the Bloomington Army card show last weekend bought a limited edition signed Max Brosmer trading card for $20. The card of the former Gopher quarterback and Viking rookie is one of only eight issued by Leaf.
The football Gophers (6-3) opened as 23.5 point underdogs, per BetMGM, for Friday night’s game against No.7 ranked Oregon (8-1) in Eugene. Even folks with maroon and gold sweaters probably like the Ducks to cover.
Oregon needed a last-minute field goal in Iowa City last Saturday to defeat the Hawkeyes, 18-17. On October 25 the Gophers lost in Iowa City in a blowout, 41-3.
The 6-3 Hawkeyes have losses to Iowa State, Indiana and Oregon by a total of 10 points. They’re probably the best three loss team in the country and should be in the AP top 25.
Legendary emcee Dick Jonckowski will again work the Minnesota Old Timers Hockey Association luncheon on November 24 at Mancini’s Char House. Guest speaker will be hockey icon Natalie Darwitz.
Last Saturday University of St. Thomas basketball had a new start with the men’s and women’s teams playing first games ever at the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena. The men defeated Army West Point 83-76 before a capacity night crowd of 5,325. The women lost 67-61 to Army in the afternoon with an attendance of 984.
The basketball Gophers, with two impressive home nonconference wins against weak competition, get a major test at Missouri on Wednesday night. The Tigers are coached by Dennis Gates whose name was speculated for the Gopher job when he was coaching at Cleveland State and Minnesota was replacing Richard Pitino.
With forward Taylor Woodson lost for the season with a knee injury, it might not be surprising if University of Minnesota women’s coach Dawn Plitzuweit tries to convince forward Mallory Heyer to return. The two players had similar statistics last season and Heyer caused a stir last month with her announcement about leaving the team for personal reasons. Heyer is still enrolled at the U, per an outside source.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch turned 56 last week and speaks to the Twin Cities Dunkers on Wednesday.
Players with ties to the Twins who are free agents this offseason include: Luis Arraez, Harrison Bader, Willi Castro, Kyle Farmer, Ty France, Mitch Garver, Liam Hendriks, Max Kepler, Tyler Mahle, Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagan, Jorge Polanco, Taylor Rogers, Michael A. Taylor and Christian Vazquez.
The Wild has a so-so start to the season and it will be interesting to see what moves GM Bill Guerin may make to improve the roster. The NHL trade deadline isn’t until March 6.