The Vikings are less than 10 days away from kicking off training camp, and all eyes will be on new 22-year-old franchise quarterback J.J. McCarthy as Minnesota looks to recapture some of magic from last year’s 14-3 regular season.
The vibes around McCarthy have been pretty consistent internally. It’s been a much different story from a national scope, however, with prominent talking heads like Colin Cowherd questioning McCarthy’s arm strength and intangibles to be a consistent winner at the NFL level.
Cowherd’s take doesn’t hold a lot of credit, especially after he admitted to not watching the film of McCarthy’s lone preseason appearance in 2024. A much more credible source is superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who revealed one area his young quarterback can work on during camp to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.
For the record, Jefferson’s take had nothing to do with McCarthy’s arm strength. Actually, it was the complete opposite of that.
“(Jefferson) said if he had one thing that he learned about J.J. McCarthy this offseason, it was that his arm strength is plenty good and will get him the ball wherever he needs it,” Seifert said. “If anything, he needs to slow the ball down a little bit and put some more touch on it.”
Talked J.J. McCarthy yesterday on NFL Live with @DanGrazianoESPN. And hello, @BenjaminSolak. pic.twitter.com/FsZAiSgx7i
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) July 16, 2025
Seifert added that McCarthy already has an aura of “personal magnetism” in the Vikings locker room, and he’s a leader “people want to be around, they want to talk to, they want to be led by, they want to entrust the team to.” Even 36-year-old all-time Vikings great Harrison Smith is all-in on McCarthy, calling him “an interesting fellow and that he likes spending time with him," per Seifert, who covers the Vikings for ESPN. Smith’s locker is right next to McCarthy’s in the Vikings’ home facility.
The arm strength reports were easy to see through, as McCarthy recorded a velocity of 61 miles per hour at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. That puts him in a class with Josh Allen and Joe Milton III in terms of zip, as both Allen and Milton share the Combine record at 62 miles per hour.
That McCarthy’s touch was a bit off during OTAs and minicamp makes sense, as he missed a ton of reps during his rookie season due to his season-ending knee injury last August. We’ll get a better gauge on how he looks once training camp begins on July 26, and despite the national narratives, finesse could be the better indicator than throwing velocity once we finally see Minnesota's young QB in another real game setting.
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