The great smell that is Thanksgiving is just hours away. It is something that Vikings supporters can concentrate on because the 2025 season had devolved into a full-fledged disaster that has shown no signs of abating.
The book on J.J. McCarthy has not been closed yet in his second year. He is in concussion protocol at this point in his second season with the team and he does not appear to be the team’s quarterback of the future.
The Vikings (4-7) had intended for McCarthy to man that role when they selected him with the No. 10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft after winning a national championship at Michigan. His rookie season was ruined by a torn meniscus but that did not stop the Vikings from getting him ready for 2025 and naming him the team’s starter.
Sam Darnold had lined up under center a year ago and led the Vikings to a 14-3 record, but he was not protected at season’s end and he was allowed to fly away and gain a new deal with the Seahawks. At the time, it seemed like the only decision general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell could make. That decision has turned out to be a major miscalculation.
McCarthy has been an awful quarterback for the Vikings in his second year with the team. While it seems likely that the Vikings will give him another chance to prove himself once he gets out of concussion protocol, the evidence of his failure to this point is that of record-setting embarrassment.
Start with the numbers: McCarthy has started six games for the Vikings and he has led the team to a 2-4 record. He has completed just 54.1 percent of his passes, completing 86 of 159 for 929 yards with 6 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. McCarthy has been sacked 20 times for 112 yards in losses and he has a passer rating of 57.9. The former Wolverine has run for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns, averaging 4.9 yards per carry.
The eye-test is another story for McCarthy and it is worse than the brutal statistics. He appeared to be skittish at the start of the season when he struggled for three quarters against the Chicago Bears before he came through like a champion in the final 15 minutes. He threw a pair of TD passes to Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones and ran for the clinching touchdown with less than three minutes left in the game. He hasn’t come close to that performance since.
Basics have escaped McCarthy, enter Max Brosmer
McCarthy has overthrown and underthrown receivers on an every-game basis. His footwork is that of a 9th-grader at his first school dance. There is hesitation on every move in the pocket and he is easy fodder for pass rushers. He is supposed to be an effective runner when he decides to take off out of the pocket, but he has just 10 rushing yards in his last two games. He has made multiple mistakes in consecutive losses to the Ravens, Bears and Packers, and the hole he has dug for himself is deep and dark.
When the Vikings play at Seattle in Week 13, the likelihood is that McCarthy won’t be able to play because of his concussion status and the job will fall to undrafted rookie free agent Max Brosmer. There is little pressure on Brosmer because the expectations are minimal.
O’Connell was boosting Brosmer when he spoke to reporters Monday. “I think we all have a lot of confidence in Max,” O’Connell said. “Ideally you’d love to have a bunch of runway for him to continue on his journey, but I know Max will prepare like crazy like he does every week. He’s been a snap away here since (backup QB) Carson (Wentz) went on IR, and I know he feels very much prepared if called upon and he’s going to go about the week as he’s been doing.”
Brosmer could give the Vikings a lift because he is not McCarthy. But he is not going to rescue the team from a last-place finish in the NFC North.
When the season concludes during the first week of January with a home game against the Packers, the Vikings will once again find themselves in the position of trying to figure out who will be under center in 2026. This is both repetitive and exhausting for those in charge and their supporters. But it is the position they are in because McCarthy has been out of his depth in his brief but painful NFL trial.