Do the 2026 Vikings have the worst QB's in NFL Hhstory?

[Grid]

Originally Posted by 88horsepower

No, not really. I thought we were having a friendly debate. Maybe you're projecting?

Not at all. I love a good debate. But when you started off with:

""All he had to do" That's simplifying things to the point of ridiculous. Yeah, all the kid with no NFL experience had to do was come in and be decent."

You really seemed dug in. I correctly pointed out, the man had well over a year of NFL experience. Not game play, which is important. But you keep leaning into him being a "rookie". Which he is not.

JJ should have hit the ground running. Kinda like Jordan Love did. Love didn't need game reps. He was in the system long enough to know how the game should work.

You said it yourself. "he took over for a playoff-caliber team". Which we both agree. All JJ had to do was not suck. Game manage. Dont turn the ball over. Dont do dumb things. Yet here we are.

I agree to let it play out. You have to agree, it is not looking too good right now. And all of the bad things that conspired on Aikman and Manning in year one. Did not happen to JJ at all. Which was the exact point I replied to.

[codered]

Comparing JJ to Aikman and manning is silly. Too young to have watched Aikman’s rookie year but definitely watched Manning’s. Yeah he set the record for rookie int’s but he also set the record for most TD passes by a rookie. Though manning’s rookie year had learning curves he showed many times throughout that season that he was going to be a great QB. JJ has shown nothing. I’m a Vikings fan. Been a Vikings fan since the Dennis Green era. If JJ was at least showing flashes I’d be more optimistic but he has been bad, very very bad. He has played 1 qtr of good football against the bears in a comeback win but he’s been awful since. I just don’t see it. I can be patient. I’m a Vikings fan but he has been really bad

[49ersSF]

1974 Atlanta Falcons.

[88horsepower]

Originally Posted by codered

Comparing JJ to Aikman and manning is silly. Too young to have watched Aikman’s rookie year but definitely watched Manning’s. Yeah he set the record for rookie int’s but he also set the record for most TD passes by a rookie. Though manning’s rookie year had learning curves he showed many times throughout that season that he was going to be a great QB. JJ has shown nothing. I’m a Vikings fan. Been a Vikings fan since the Dennis Green era. If JJ was at least showing flashes I’d be more optimistic but he has been bad, very very bad. He has played 1 qtr of good football against the bears in a comeback win but he’s been awful since. I just don’t see it. I can be patient. I’m a Vikings fan but he has been really bad

He's been bad, I fully agree with you. Zero argument there.

I do think it's too soon to throw in the towel on the kid.

Originally Posted by Grid

Not at all. I love a good debate. But when you started off with:

""All he had to do" That's simplifying things to the point of ridiculous. Yeah, all the kid with no NFL experience had to do was come in and be decent."

You really seemed dug in. I correctly pointed out, the man had well over a year of NFL experience. Not game play, which is important. But you keep leaning into him being a "rookie". Which he is not.

JJ should have hit the ground running. Kinda like Jordan Love did. Love didn't need game reps. He was in the system long enough to know how the game should work.

You said it yourself. "he took over for a playoff-caliber team". Which we both agree. All JJ had to do was not suck. Game manage. Dont turn the ball over. Dont do dumb things. Yet here we are.

I agree to let it play out. You have to agree, it is not looking too good right now. And all of the bad things that conspired on Aikman and Manning in year one. Did not happen to JJ at all. Which was the exact point I replied to.

It's not looking good, I fully agree with you there. And it's fair that comping Aikman and Manning isn't apples to apples. They were the first two 1st round quarterbacks who came to mind - Manning because I'm a Colts fan and Aikman because I know how much he struggled in his rookie year.

I do think Caleb is the more contemporary example of what I'm pointing to - a quarterback who actually did look good, objectively, but got a ton of flack for being a rookie who wasn't lighting the world on fire as a rookie with #1 overall pick expectations. I'm not trying to say McCarthy has been good this year, but I do feel the expectations on rookies are too high. I stand by that.

[erock28]

Originally Posted by 88horsepower

He's been bad, I fully agree with you. Zero argument there.

I do think it's too soon to throw in the towel on the kid.



It's not looking good, I fully agree with you there. And it's fair that comping Aikman and Manning isn't apples to apples. They were the first two 1st round quarterbacks who came to mind - Manning because I'm a Colts fan and Aikman because I know how much he struggled in his rookie year.

I do think Caleb is the more contemporary example of what I'm pointing to - a quarterback who actually did look good, objectively, but got a ton of flack for being a rookie who wasn't lighting the world on fire as a rookie with #1 overall pick expectations. I'm not trying to say McCarthy has been good this year, but I do feel the expectations on rookies are too high. I stand by that.

A lot of people - A LOT - hated on Williams for his flamboyant/emotional personality. The crying on the sidelines, the painted fingernails, the rookie contract negotiations, the general cockiness. He was going to be scorned by many no matter how he played. Any mistake would be magnified, every loss would be another "told you so" moment. Now that McCarthy has been outed as a cocky punk, many are jumping on board to shame him too.

[88horsepower]

Originally Posted by erock28

A lot of people - A LOT - hated on Williams for his flamboyant/emotional personality. The crying on the sidelines, the painted fingernails, the rookie contract negotiations, the general cockiness. He was going to be scorned by many no matter how he played. Any mistake would be magnified, every loss would be another "told you so" moment. Now that McCarthy has been outed as a cocky punk, many are jumping on board to shame him too.

I have to be honest here, I don’t know the first thing about McCarthy’s personality. If he’s been arrogant, he opened himself up to criticism.

[erock28]

Originally Posted by 88horsepower

I have to be honest here, I don’t know the first thing about McCarthy’s personality. If he’s been arrogant, he opened himself up to criticism.

Which personality - his or of "Nine"?

Ever since the "Nine" nonsense came out, he exposed himself. I don't think any of us general sports fans knew much about him because he flat out wasn't the focal point at Michigan. Missed his rookie year, again not much to talk about. Wins a couple of games in the NFL and his d-baggery gets revealed. From my vantage point on the couch, the body language of his teammates and coaches doesn't exactly inspire the look of a beloved QB...

[49erRCCollector]

I think Grid and 88HP both have points here.

truth is that the structure of rookie QB deals force teams to play them earlier than later, and that is really hard on young QBs. I think potentially good QBs that need development get ruined.

Having said that, I don't see it with McCarthy. and I didn't see it in the few games I saw of him in college.

I hope I'm wrong, because I don't root for players to fail, but he does not feel like an NFL QB to me.

[JohnnyHatesJazz]

He was a boy pretending to be a man like so many of these modern quarterbacks. Not all but many.

Steve Young, Joe Montana, John Elway, Dan Marino, Brett Favre, Tom Brady Peyton Manning...Field Generals and Men of The Gridiron.

[packman80]

If you look at his college stats he had two really good games against high quality opponents. In 2022 he had a 3 TD 260 yard game vs OSU and in 2023 he had 3 TDs and 220 yards vs Bama.

His other big games he has had were against pretty bad teams that were not on the level of Michigan.

He got overhyped coming into the draft. He likely should have been a day 2 pick but every year there are a couple QBs who get hyped up and move up at least 1 round higher then they should be going.

[ed06288]

I watched good chunks of the games he played in this year. A lot of balls to Justin Jefferson were overthrown. He also throws a lot of rocket balls to players in tight coverage who then drop the ball. He had a really good scramble for big yardage, that was about the only positive. The game against baltimore was not as close as the final score suggested. A lot of pass interference calls gave the vikings first downs. An interception thrown by Mccarthy was ruled an incomplete pass but I thought the call was questionable. Maybe this is normal rookie quarterback stuff but right now he doesn't look good.

[Stifle]

Not today say’s the YOUNGEST quarterback in the NFL.

[Siberian13]

Honestly he still looks pretty rough

[88horsepower]

Today, McCarthy isn’t the worst QB in the league. It will interest me greatly to see how he fares as the season comes to a close.

[Stifle]

Originally Posted by 88horsepower

Today, McCarthy isn’t the worst QB in the league. It will interest me greatly to see how he fares as the season comes to a close.

I agree, losing the entire season without taking practice snaps over 20 weeks had him chasing this entire year.

[88horsepower]

Originally Posted by Stifle

I agree, losing the entire season without taking practice snaps over 20 weeks had him chasing this entire year.

People had very unrealistic expectations of him this year and tend to overlook a lot of facts about the situation he was thrust into. I'd like to see how he finishes this year and how he does in the next two seasons before writing him off as a Vikings QB.

[f2tornado]

Originally Posted by erock28

A lot of people - A LOT - hated on Williams for his flamboyant/emotional personality.

Cam Newton was like that. Came across as "me" versus "we" (the team). Easy to hate on those types.

Originally Posted by 88horsepower

People had very unrealistic expectations of him this year.

I pegged the Vikings as a 9-8 type team which is pretty tempered expectations. I suppose they could win out and get there but wouldn't bank on that happening. It seems JJ gets missile lock on his receivers and the defenses respond in kind. If he can ever shake that habit, then some room to improve. A better line would also help. For now, he's looking like another Christian Ponder.

[boxbuster7]

Mccarthy isn't the problem

[jlzinck]

Originally Posted by Nostalgia

Rhetorical

I'll tell you in 2026

[Retired hobbist]

Originally Posted by Nostalgia

Rhetorical

It can't be as they have more wins than the Titans, so...