'He definitely has an arm': Five things we know about J.J. McCarthy

EAGAN, Minn. -- The world has no shortage of opinions on Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

Is he ready to lead the Vikings to Super Bowl LX in February? It's not hard to find someone willing to say yes. Is he too weak-armed and small-statured to be a long-term starter? That assessment has floated around the national media as well.

This range of potential outcomes makes sense for a quarterback who missed his rookie season with a torn right meniscus and has neither played nor practiced during an NFL regular season. What McCarthy has done, however, is build up an inventory of offseason throws, decisions, mistakes, successes and growth moments.

"It's been awesome," McCarthy said, "because they've really pushed the limits on just what I can handle, and that's what I asked for. I'd rather sweat in training and limit the bleeding on the battlefield when we get there."

Over the 14 months since the Vikings made him the No. 10 pick in the 2024 draft, McCarthy has participated in 18 days of training camp, 15 OTAs, three days of rookie minicamp, six days of veteran minicamp and one preseason game. That body of work is big enough to make some informed judgments, at least for those who have witnessed them.

With 33 days remaining until McCarthy and the rest of the Vikings' quarterbacks report to training camp, here are five offseason takeaways about the 22-year-old who the Vikings hope will develop into their starter for the next decade.

The arm is fine

McCarthy's arm strength was a topic of public discussion entering the draft, even after he recorded a velocity of 61 mph on a throw at the combine. He has also said that he once threw a ball 78 yards -- with the wind.

But velocity and distance aren't full expressions of arm strength, nor do they necessarily correlate with long-term success. The only relevant question is whether McCarthy can make all of the throws on an NFL route tree, and over the past two offseasons, he has.

"He definitely has an arm," receiver Justin Jefferson said. "That's for sure. He can definitely zip it whenever he needs to."

McCarthy's arm has looked especially lively on throws down the middle of the field. His one interception during the 2024 preseason, and the two in competitive drills that reporters saw this spring, were on throws toward the sideline that cornerbacks jumped. Those mistakes, however, looked more like issues of timing and decision-making than arm strength.

"A lot of [the public doubt] just comes with the stigma of playing at Michigan and not throwing the ball a lot," McCarthy said. "But at the same time, it could be my frame. They don't see a 6-5, 240-[pound] guy, so how can you throw at 61 miles an hour at the combine? But at the end of the day, it's going to show up and the people that know, know."

He's learning to vary his throws

Jefferson noted last summer that McCarthy tended to throw every ball the same way -- hard and straight -- and contrasted that with how last year's starter, Sam Darnold, matched his velocity and trajectory to the situation. Darnold, of course, was in his seventh NFL training camp.

Over time, NFL quarterbacks must master at least three different levels of passes: line drives, those that rise and fall quickly for intermediate targets and those with enough arc to hang in the air for longer-developing routes.

This spring, it was clear that McCarthy was experimenting with the levels, the same way a baseball pitcher might test and try to expand his repertoire during spring training. That might have been the case when McCarthy spotted receiver Jordan Addison open deep down the right seam. McCarthy's throw forced Addison to slow down to make the catch, enough of a delay that a defensive back in a game situation might have had time to break up the play.

Speaking generally, McCarthy said he was experimenting with his throws "every single day" this spring and added: "I believe I've grown the most on just the different level of trajectories of throw. At Michigan, I was kind of a one-speed pitch kind of guy. I had a couple deeper balls with level-three throws and stuff like that, but [I'm] just working on that two-ball and different paces to the 'pitches' and ball location."

He has personal magnetism

It's not a prerequisite for winning football, but it's certainly preferable for a team's quarterback to have the type of personality that naturally draws people into his orbit. At 22 years and 5 months, McCarthy is the second-youngest non-rookie on the Vikings' roster. But players from both sides of the ball have noted his energetic personality and ability to connect.

Veteran safety Harrison Smith called McCarthy "a guy that I enjoy being around a lot." During practices, McCarthy embraces a youthful goofiness, bouncing around from players to coaches between reps. Off the field, players find it easy to talk with him. As Smith put it: "He's his own person and kind of speaks his mind. [He] has his own way of thinking about things."

Jefferson noted that McCarthy "understands that he is the starting quarterback at this moment" and "brings that with him to practice, knowing that he has to have that leadership." Though it will carry little correlation to the Vikings' success this season, McCarthy knew the names of the beat reporters who cover the team by the time OTAs began.

"The thing I learned about myself," McCarthy said at the end of minicamp, "is just the weight that I hold every single day and just showing up, being the same guy every single day, bringing that attitude, effort and energy."

There are no threats to his job on the roster

The Vikings acquired Sam Howell in a draft-day trade with the Seattle Seahawks, and Howell was usually the second quarterback to rotate into team drills, following McCarthy. That suggested Howell is the front-runner for the No. 2 job, but nothing he did this spring indicated he will push McCarthy to start. Coach Kevin O'Connell said Howell -- who is entering his fourth NFL season -- was learning some of the same lessons as McCarthy this spring.

"He's kind of like J.J.," O'Connell said, "where he's made some throws where you're like, 'Man, probably shouldn't have made that throw. But I now know on this play, I've got to be careful of this.' And it's all growth."

O'Connell saved some of his top praise for undrafted rookie Max Brosmer.

"I think Max is as smart as any young player that I've been around," O'Connell said, "from a standpoint of [the fact that he] really hadn't been exposed to a lot of reps this spring, but his ownership of the information [is] kind of right on par."

O'Connell hasn't crowned a starter yet

O'Connell isn't the first NFL coach to temper expectations about a highly anticipated young quarterback. But his comments on McCarthy this spring match the eye test. He recently referenced the "10,000 hour rule" popularized by author Malcolm Gladwell as the rough practice timeframe it takes to master a skill.

"I feel really good about where he's at fundamentally," O'Connell said. "But it's still those 10,000 reps, those 10,000 hours, and we're not that far into that process, and I challenge him every day to embrace it. [He] can't be too hard on himself, but at the same time, 'What is your standard to get not where you are right now, but where you want to get to?' And he's done a good job of attacking that every day."