I’m not going to suggest JJ hasn’t been bad…he was flat out not good in 2025.
That being said…comp% is the most overrated statistic in professional football. 56% is unacceptable for sure…but if you are 63% or above, it shouldn’t be talked about as a judging metric. A player can complete 70% of his passes and who cares if he’s averaging 6-8 yards a completion. Context always matters but even more so in the case of completions and what the results are. Competition % as a stand alone metric is borderline irrelevant. JJ led the BIG and was among the leaders in all of CFB in completion % in 2023, yet you thought he wasn’t NFL starter material…see my point?
Anyway that got off topic a bit. I watched every single UofM game as that’s my squad. I can absolutely see why NFL scouts thought JJ had potential to be a franchise QB. He has the things you can’t teach and the raw tools a good coach believes he can coach up. Now he didn’t have to do much of reading/identifying coverages in college. Therefore, he probably should’ve been a late 1st round pick. A guy who needed to sit and learn for 2 Years. But to suggest he didn’t have the potential to be the guy is crazy. Whether you are pointing to what he did in college or his short NFL career.
He needed time. Darnold should’ve been retained with the idea of McCarthy starting in 2026-27. Which then brings into question why the Vikings took him so high.
IMO, McCarthy is getting **** on because how botched the Vikings handled their QB situation. It’s beyond common for QBs being drafted high in the first round.
That wasn’t going to be an option. Darnold wanted a long term commitment. The Vikings couldn’t fanchise him as I believe the contract number would be insane. Remember, the Vikings paid Jefferson a TON of money, because the plan was always going to be drafting a rookie QB and having a rookie QB contract for a few years. They couldn’t afford to pay Darnold, even after he proved he was up for the job.
Also remember, Darnold played poorly against the Lions in the de facto #1 seed/Division title game, then followed it up with a poor performance against the Rams in the Wild Card game. Fans wanted Darnold out. The Darnold everyone would say is going to show up, showed up in the two biggest games of the year. The Vikings were committed to JJ. I think what the Vikings didn’t count on, was that the guy who they truly tied their franchise to, Jefferson, has apparently developed an intense disliking to JJ. The idea was always to get the cheap rookie QB who could grow with Jefferson/Addison and that defense, and the rest would take care of itself.
Now, they have a real QB/WR problem, have to pay another super cheap vet QB and pray he gets along with Jefferson, all while trying to figure out how to plug other gaps. Of all of the North teams that I think have a long term growth problem, it’s the Vikings leading my book.
I could see a rich Gannon kind of arch for jj. Bounce around the league for a bit and hit his stride later in his career if he finds the right team and fit.
Both things can be true: he hasn’t been great with his opportunities yet, but he hasn’t had enough of them to write him off yet either. Plus he’s been dealing with the injuries. It’s still too early to say he’s done.
There doesn’t have to be a right or wrong answer here, not yet.
Thats because in College JJ was the bottom of the power4-5 in attempts per game in college. Easy to make completions when the defense has 8 in the box.
Sure comp% shouldn’t be looked at in a vacuum. But when its coupled with. League Average air yards of 6.5 yards. Yea its bad.
Especially since it never improved. Every single game in the NFL has been under 60%. His on target throws under 65%. Success% under 45%
those arnt just bad. Those are horrible like bottom 10 qb in the last decade. Min 200 attempt
Oh I’m aware, and everyone’s entitled to their opinions. But at least on the places I frequent, I will never stop trying to be a cooler head, despite it being something like banging my head against the wall.
I thought he was a major reach where he was taken. I had him more as round 3 at best. I wouldn’t say I was rooting against him, but he does play for the Vikings. And he’s also a little weird. The meditation thing is weird. I believe you should do whatever makes you happy as long as you’re not hurting anyone. But it just seems a little pompous at the same time.
I think it would depend entirely on how they view him. If they think he can’t play I doubt it would matter. I’d love to trade for him and sit JJ behind Goff for the next 2-3 years. I think he has the physical talent to be a very good quarterback.
Well, only problem with that take, is JJ was drafted 12 picks before the Lions drafted.
To his credit JJ is still on a NFL roster the Lions 1st rd pick isn’t.
