JJ McCarthy Catches Tough Break Upon Return as Vikings’ QB1
Quarterback J.J. McCarthy will step back into the role of starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings against the Detroit Lions in Week 9, but the timing of his return probably could not be worse.
McCarthy played just two games to begin the year before a high-ankle sprain sidelined him for the past six weeks. Danny Heifetz of The Ringer explained on the October 22 edition of “The Bill Simmons Podcast” the direness of the scenario McCarthy faces.
“The Vikings, to this point in the season, had the easiest schedule in the NFL. The Vikings going forward have the hardest schedule in the NFL,” Heifetz said. “So McCarthy comes back, he’s gonna get rocked. He’s clearly not ready for the NFL, and the Vikings are a win-now team.”
Minnesota has two games against the Lions, two with the Green Bay Packers, one vs. the Seattle Seahawks and one against the Chicago Bears remaining on the schedule.
Heifetz continued, asserting that Minnesota’s McCarthy problem is going to extend into the 2026 campaign.
“The timelines are totally mismanaged. He’s not gonna play well. And if he doesn’t, the whole offseason is gonna be, ‘What do the Vikings do?'” Heifetz said. “You gonna go with just J.J. McCarthy again? They had Daniel Jones last year, let him go. They had Sam Darnold, they let him go. [McCarthy] has more pressure on him than any quarterback going into next year.”
Vikings Facing Serious Consequences for Betting on JJ McCarthy Over Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones
And that is to say nothing of what McCarthy faces across the final 10 games of this season — even beyond the gauntlet of the toughest slate in the league.
Minnesota is 3-4 and currently paying the price for making a huge bet on McCarthy as the No. 10 pick in 2024. The team made another monster wager that parting ways with Darnold and Jones in favor of a 22-year-old QB with zero professional experience was the right call simply because his salary is manageable enough compared to what Darnold now earns ($100.5 million over three years in Seattle) that the Vikings could spend more to build out other parts of the roster.
“The Vikings had a very difficult situation, decision, where do you pay Darnold $30 or $40 million a year or do you go with McCarthy? And that’s a hard decision. So it’s not Monday morning quarterbacking, but they clearly made the wrong decision,” Heifetz said. “We all wonder if the McCarthy ankle thing was a shadow benching. There was probably some kind of injury there, but I’m like, ‘They are hiding this guy.'”
Vikings Will Bring in Competition for Starting Job Next Season if JJ McCarthy Struggles Down the Stretch
McCarthy is going to get as much rope as exists through the remainder of the 2025 campaign. The Vikings have only undrafted rookie Max Brosmer and John Wolford (four career starts) to round out the quarterback room.
It is possible, or maybe even likely, that the team will try to add a veteran signal-caller ahead of the trade deadline to replace the departed Carson Wentz, who is now out for the season due to surgery on his non-throwing shoulder.
If Minnesota does bring in another veteran QB by November 4, it probably won’t be a player who can viably threaten for the starting job in 2026. However, if McCarthy continues to struggle, the Vikings are certainly going to hunt for competition for him come next spring.
“If the young quarterback shines, as he did during a transcendent fourth quarter on the first Monday night of the season, he’ll have a firm grip on the job that was handed to him last spring, and the Vikings will continue to build around him,” Michael Silver of The Athletic wrote Friday. “Should McCarthy struggle, as he did in a Week 2 defeat to the Falcons, the organization will surely explore viable alternatives at season’s end.”
Insider Spills Chiefs’ Targeted Positions Ahead of NFL Trade Deadline
With mere days remaining until the 2025 NFL trade deadline, the pressure is on for all 32 teams. The Kansas City Chiefs are no different, but will general manager Brett Veach make a move?
It’s the topic of the hour locally, and some national media are weighing in on the possibility as well.
In an October 31 story for Sports Illustrated, league insider Albert Breer singled out a pair of positions, defensive tackle and running back, as spots the reigning AFC champs could target.
“The Chiefs have sniffed around on a defensive tackle and now are drilling down a little more at running back with Isiah Pacheco banged up,” Breer wrote.
Let’s dive into the state of both spots for the Chiefs with Tuesday’s Nov. 4 deadline approaching.
Is Mike Pennel Addition Enough for Chiefs’ DT Room?
Of course, the straw that stirs the drink for Kansas City’s defensive line is Chris Jones. The three-time All-Pro is in his age-31 season, yet he’s playing a whopping 81% of available snaps. He’s rewarded the team with mixed production, as his 2 sacks in eight games may seem underwhelming. When paired with 27 pressures, though, that’s far more palatable.
The loss of rookie Omarr Norman-Lott to an ACL injury didn’t help. The second-round pick was widely expected to emerge as a key piece down the stretch, thus putting the team in a bind. Derrick Nnadi is one of the worst pass rushers in the league, and his run defense has even slipped. Jerry Tillery, for all he can bring as a reserve, is exactly that.
Enter Mike Pennel? The 34-year-old requested his release from the Cincinnati Bengals and rejoined his hometown’s nearest team this week. He’s potentially an improvement over Nnadi at this stage, albeit not a full-time running mate for Jones. A trade would certainly help the Chiefs get some more upside in the middle of their defense.
Ahead of Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, Steve Spagnuolo’s defense ranks 20th in ESPN’s pass rush win rate. Their 25% run stop win rate is dead last out of all 32 teams.
A No. 6 ranking in pressure rate makes things look better than they are in reality. Spagnuolo blitzes, oftentimes out of necessity, and it sometimes still doesn’t work. Kansas City is 24th in pressure to sack rate at 17.9%. Better production from a non-George Karlaftis defensive end would be nice, sure, but the premium to acquire that is surely steep.
Is the cost for a solid tackle more affordable? Maybe.
Does Kansas City Have Enough at RB to Win in Playoffs?
The running back dynamic is interesting. There’s a case to be made that even before Isiah Pacheco got hurt, the Chiefs could’ve benefitted from an injection of talent. They don’t generate explosive runs and are ineffective in several other areas.
A solution for Week 9 isn’t coming from the trade market. Kansas City has already ruled Pacheco out, and his MCL sprain renders him week-to-week. Once he’s able to return, is he worth backing as a lead option? Although he’s posting a career-best 59% success rate on the ground, other advanced metrics aren’t as kind. Per NFL Pro, the fourth-year man is worth -6.5 rush EPA on the year.
What about backup Kareem Hunt, who’s produced +11 EPA? That’s great, but Hunt is primarily a short-yardage piece. If the Chiefs need a third- or fourth-down conversion or a jolt at the goal line, he’s excellent. He lacks any sort of burst, though, as evidenced by his 1.61% mark in explosive rushes. That’s 39th out of 40 running backs with 50+ attempts, per SumerSports.
Rookie Brashard Smith is interesting, yet not ready for a serious workload. The seventh-round pick is a far better pass catcher than rusher. He averages 8.7 yards per reception, as opposed to an ugly 3.0 yards per carry. He’s the only Kansas City halfback with a lower rushing yards over expected mark (-15) than Pacheco (-14) in 2025.
There’s no denying that a running back addition could be just what the Chiefs need, and there figures to be no shortage of avenues to make that happen. Whether they’re realistic, however, remains to be seen.
If Breer’s reporting is any indication, Veach and his staff are weighing all of that as the sands pass through the trade deadline hourglass.
