Analyst: JJ McCarthy Needs to Take a Chill Pill

Things have not been good for the Minnesota Vikings this season, which at 4-6, is hanging by a thread. Unfortunately, a significant number of their problems rest on the shoulders of young quarterback, J.J. McCarthy.

This offseason, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah spent a boatload of money to fix the offensive and defensive lines, in order to put a competitive 2025 squad on paper.

Then, head coach Kevin O’Connell entrusted the offensive unit to his 22-year-old QB. So far, an inability to stay healthy and/or productive has resulted in an ugly start to McCarthy’s NFL career, and that is putting it lightly.

Thankfully, there does appear to be a positive path forward for our Michigan Man. At least if you ask NFL analyst for CBS Sports, J.P. Acosta, who broke down J.J. McCarthy’s tape and found a clear answer to his problems. In short, Acosta writes that J.J. “needs to chill out”.

MN Vikings need a more calm J.J. McCarthy

He then goes on to explain that the kid is so amped up it’s causing him to put more energy into routine throws than what’s necessary. Acosta attributes McCarthy’s over-anxiousness for why he’s wound so “tight as a passer”, which is leading to the wild inaccuracy he’s put on display through five NFL starts.

In the long term, I think what J.J. McCarthy needs to chill out. Every throw he’s missed this season has looked the same: he’s so amped up and tight as a passer that he’s throwing his entire body into passes that don’t need to set records on the radar gun.

His mechanics are bad because he’s rushing through them, as if the game is moving too fast for him. Which is fascinating because he looks like he knows where to go with the ball, it’s just his mechanics and body slowing him down.

He’s trying to play catch up, having been the only 2024 QB to miss his rookie season for a team that won 14 games last season without him. For McCarthy to truly succeed in Minnesota, he has to take advice from a former Packer QB, Aaron Rodgers: R-E-L-A-X.

J.P. Acosta – CBS Sports

It’s not rocket science. When you throw every pass like it’s a Jhoan Duran fastball, that’s how you end up with a 52.9% completion rate, a 6/8 TD/INT ratio, and just 842 passing yards in five games.

Sunday’s loss against the Chicago Bears was the culmination of ineptitude for McCarthy. He sailed passes all over the place. Just ask Cris Carter.

Of course, it’s going to take time for the kid quarterback to settle in at the professional level. McCarthy’s mental and virtual reps in 2024 can only take him so far. Nothing can replace real life experience and we are seeing that play out right before our eyes with J.J.

Until he can find a way to harness all of that pent up energy on game day so he doesn’t look — as Acosta puts it, “like a puppy with the zoomies” — then McCarthy will continue to struggle. Thankfully, he does have seven games remaining on the season to get better.

Offseason QB Missteps from Vikings’ top decisionmakers

Even though the footwork and fastball issues were present at Michigan, it’s probably not fair to simply suggest that drafting McCarthy was a mistake. It’s also not logical to fault the kid for getting hurt.

What was avoidable was the Vikings’ level of preparedness or insurance, in case J.J. wasn’t ready to take over this year. Not only did they turn away multiple better QB options, but they only played McCarthy for one drive of their first preseason game.

By far the most frustrating thing about McCarthy is that his eyes are in the right place for a majority of these passes; his mechanics and accuracy just make it not matter. Jefferson w/free release vs Noah Sewell and he throws it to Duluth pic.twitter.com/0NaLimVVCh

— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) November 17, 2025

For a kid quarterback that hadn’t seen the field for a full year, that now looks like a huge mistake on the part of Kevin O’Connell and other top decision-makers at TCO Performance Center.

Chemistry has not been there between McCarthy and his receivers all season. Justin Jefferson missed virtually all of camp with a hamstring injury. Joint practices were never going to be enough to get J.J. McCarthy ready for real NFL football.

If anybody should have been able to see that back in August, it was those at the top of the Minnesota Vikings food chain, in Eagan.