'C quarterback': Colin Cowherd takes another dig at J.J. McCarthy

Originally posted on Minnesota Vikings on SI
By Joe Nelson | Last updated Jul 24, 2025 10:05 AM ET

Colin Cowherd's strange obsession with publicly doubting J.J. McCarthy reared its ugly head again when he

“J.J. McCarthy, you’re going to see it very quickly. Is not what people think," Cowherd said. "J.J. McCarthy is a C quarterback. You ever seen J.J. McCarthy’s fourth quarter college stats and playing from behind fourth quarter stats in college, with Michigan and Harbaugh and that O-line.? They're terrible.”

Okay. Let's go look at Michigan's 2023 undefeated season and find the games where fourth quarter play really mattered: against Ohio State late in the regular season and versus Alabama in the national semifinals. Here's what you'll find:

4Q vs. Ohio State: 5-of-5 passing on two drives that ended with field goals
4Q vs. Alabama: 5-of-9 for 87 yards and a touchdown

The Alabama game is really interesting because McCarthy hit on a pass for 27 yards to convert a fourth down, while adding completions for 20 and 29 yards, respectively, and mixing in a 16-yard run and finding Roman Wilson for a 4-yard touchdown to tie the game with 1:34 left in regulation.

Seems pretty clutch, right?

In June, after Cowherd picked up on a report from Vikings On SI's Will Ragatz that McCarthy had thrown an interception during a minicamp practice, he took the opportunity to question whether McCarthy has any "wow" traits.

"To be a great franchise quarterback," Cowherd began, "there has to be a 'wow' trait. Let's just go through them. Mahomes: arm talent. Allen: sheer force of size. Lamar: athletic ability. Stafford: has one of the great arms in the last 30 years in the league. Burrow: composure and accuracy. Herbert: big, strong, power arm. C.J. Stroud: accuracy. Hurts: strength, pound for pound. Kyler Murray: elusiveness. You start stacking up these quarterbacks, there's a trait.

"Go back and look at the people I trust," Cowherd continued, referring to McCarthy's pre-draft evaluations. "I never buy, when you say this about a quarterback, 'that guy is a winner.' Everybody under Jim Harbaugh and Nick Saban and Steve Spurrier's 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 no great trait. That's 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 big throws while moving is special. I don't get McCarthy's wow trait. I don't see the wow."

At the end of the day, Cowherd's opinion doesn't matter. It's just noise to a guy like McCarthy, who is dead set on becoming a great leader — and winner — for the Vikings.