ESPN insider responds to whether J.J. McCarthy will start again for Minnesota Vikings

J.J. McCarthy’s early NFL career hasn’t gone as planned, but it may be too soon to write him off as what he can be. After missing his entire rookie season due to a knee injury, McCarthy returned with high expectations last year, only to struggle with more injuries and bad play.

The struggles were loud, too, as Sam Darnold, the Vikings' ex-QB, was great and won a Super Bowl.

At the same time, context matters, as McCarthy essentially entered his rookie season after already losing that year. Young players need reps a he highest level and McCarthy didn’t have that.

While some believe his time as a starter will be short-lived, Dan Graziano of ESPN pushed back on the idea that McCarthy is already finished as a starting quarterback, but also acknowledged the concerns.

“McCarthy is coming off a terrible and injury-plagued first NFL season after missing his entire rookie season due to a knee injury. 

“He entered the offseason healthy, but after throwing 12 interceptions and taking 27 sacks in his 10 starts last season, he has given the Vikings reason to doubt whether he’ll turn out to be the quarterback they thought he was when they moved up a spot to draft him,” he wrote.

The criticism is fair, but saying that McCarthy won’t ever figure it out isn’t. Ultimately, we’ve seen quarterbacks struggle early on and figure it out eventually, so that could be the case with McCarthy.

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