Colin Cowherd Takes His JJ McCarthy Hatred to “Modest Arm” Levels

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JJ McCarthy - Minnesota Vikings Minicamp
Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

There are a lot of people who believe in JJ McCarthy. That he, under the tutelage of Kevin O’Connell, will develop into a franchise QB to the likes of which we have not seen in this town since Sir Francis Tarkenton was running the Minnesota Vikings to multiple Super Bowl appearances back in the 70s.

Others, like FOX Sports TV/Radio host, Colin Cowherd, who has made it clear that he is not a fan of the 2024 No. 10 overall draft pick many times over, since the Vikings selected him last offseason. Well, with NFL minicamps underway across the league, “The Herd” found itself back on the topic of JJ McCarthy again on Wednesday.

Colin Cowherd still out on Minnesota Vikings QB JJ McCarthy

Even with all of the positive hype coming out of Eagan this spring, surrounding McCarthy, Cowherd is still all the way out on the Minnesota Vikings redshirt rookie QB1. During today’s show, Colin reiterated his JJ negativity, not necessarily due to any specific weaknesses, but instead, due to a lack of any “wow-factor” elite traits.

The longtime sports talk show host even went as far as to call McCarthy’s arm strength, “modest”, which is pretty much the biggest dig you can take at a starting NFL QB, right up there with “game manager”.

“There’s so much mystery [surrounding JJ McCarthy]. Why does Minnesota keep flirting with other quarterbacks and there are too many conflicting reports with McCarthy. There’s a lot of stuff I don’t know. I feel sometimes there’s a little bit of a spin job here.”

“To be a great franchise quarterback…there’s got to be a trait. There has to be a wow trait [proceeds to go through elite traits of top QBs — Mahomes’ arm talent, Lamar’s athletic ability, Burrow’s composure, Herbert’s power arm, etc]… you start stacking up these quarterbacks, there’s a trait, like Elway – arm, Marino – arm, Aaron Rodgers – arm and release.”

“He doesn’t have a big arm. His arm is considered modest. It’s a middle of the pack arm, middle of the pack escapability. In fact, they question his release. His release, at times, can be a little bit plodding.”

Colin Cowherd – The Herd w/Colin Cowherd

As previously mentioned, this is not the first time Colin Cowherd has gone after JJ McCarthy. In this video alone, he pretty much admits that he is a fan of just about every young NFL QB in the league, outside of the one in Minnesota.

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He mentioned what he likes about everyone from Jalen Hurts to Aaron Rodgers to Justin Herbert and even Kyler Murray, all of which have exclusive talents that allow them to maintain high-level QB play in the league. Talents that he does not believe exist in JJ McCarthy’s arsenal. This time last month, he compared him to 2025 draft pick Jaxson Dart.

Cowherd doesn’t care that McCarthy is a winner

If you think “winning” is a translatable trait from college to the NFL, Cowherd will laugh at you. He claims that every player to ever be coached by collegiate greats like Jim Harbaugh and Nick Saban are all winners, by default. Of course, that is not true. But then again, what part of Colin’s rant is true?

“Everybody under Jim Harbaugh, Steve Spurrier and Nick Saban is a winner. i don’t wanna hear that. If you go back and look, his arm is modest, his escapability is modest, his release wasn’t super-quick. There is not great trait. That is why I was always a Darnold fan. Darnold is tough, with a big arm.

He can be reckless, but there are times you watch Darnold, his ability to make throws while moving is special. I don’t get McCarthy’s ‘wow’ trait. Now, I like Jordan Love, but I think Jordan Love has an incredible arm. He’s got a whip and he’s also super-athletic. I don’t see the ‘wow’. There’s gotta be one thing.”

Colin Cowherd – The Herd w/Colin Cowherd

Obviously, Colin’s biggest problem might be that he is trusting the wrong college scouts. Because not all of them see JJ McCarthy as a bland piece of white bread, like the “draft experts” he apparently believes in.

For example, any draft analyst who’s reported McCarthy’s arm as being “modest” or anything less than “extremely capable” should have their opinion dropped directly into the trash bin. No recycling necessary. JJ has plenty of arm talent/power.

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Entering the league, the bigger questions surrounded his ability to take heat off and layer the ball in-between defenders, something that the 22-year-old has been working on extensively, since arriving in Eagan, and something he continues to show improvement on.

In the end, the only person who can shut Colin Cowherd and other JJ McCarthy doubters up for good is JJ McCarthy. It feels like a long ways away, but as long as he can stay healthy, our new QB1 will have at least 17 regular season games to prove he was worth a top 10 overall draft pick.

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