J.J. McCarthy’s pre-draft criticism resurfaces in disappointing Vikings loss, ‘I’ve got to…’

JJ McCarthy had been criticized before for his struggles to throw left, and it’s showing in the NFL

Last night, analysts noticed a trend in JJ McCarthy’s throws. The quarterback was largely targeting the right side of the field, only opting to throw five of his 21 attempts left of the hash marks against the Falcons.

Both of McCarthy’s interceptions came on balls thrown down the right side of the field, and he was once again picked off on an out route aimed towards the boundary.

As analysts study the film and piece together the story of Sunday night’s game, many are coming to the same conclusion. JJ McCarthy is still struggling to throw to his left.

One individual reposted a quote from analyst Nate Tice, who had raised this issue prior to the 2024 NFL draft.

Tice had said:

“Throwing to the left, particularly down the field, seems to unravel some of McCarthy’s mechanics. The stats reflect this as well; on throws outside the numbers, McCarthy’s accuracy and efficiency drop drastically when he has to push the ball to his left and down the field.”

“On throws of 10 or more air yards and outside the numbers over his career, McCarthy’s completion percentage drops from 56.2% to the right to 42.6% to the left; his quarterback efficiency goes from a eye-watering 205.4 to 144.2; his dropback success rate from a crisp 56.2% to a pedestrian 42.6%; and his first downs per attempt from 53.4% to 39.7%.”

One Vikings account said:

“Throwing to the left was a big problem for J.J. McCarthy in college and was a knock for him during the draft process.”

McCarthy was picked off on a throw towards the left sideline in Week 1 against the Bears, which was thrown from the right hash mark on an out route to Justin Jefferson.

Fans argued that the Vikings generally don’t throw the football enough to get a good read on McCarthy as a passer, but there are some concerns about his ability to spread the football around and the strength of his arm, too.

One fan suggested his arm was a ‘peashooter’, saying:

“JJ McCarthy has a noodle arm. Those throws to the sideline just float, man. It’s like watching Shannon Stewart throw the ball back into the infield with the Twins back in the day. Those throws need to be better. Nothing but a peashooter.”

His arm strength does appear to be a slight concern, sometimes struggling to rip the football into a window, particularly when throwing towards the boundary.

Louis Riddick jumped to McCarthy’s defense during the preseason last year, when McCarthy threw a deep ball to the left against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Even the fact that he mentioned it shows that this has been a conversation about JJ McCarthy since he came out of college, and Kevin O’Connell has his work cut out to correct that as McCarthy develops in the NFL.

The Vikings made a bold choice this offseason in handing JJ McCarthy the keys and opting to let Sam Darnold walk as a free agent after a great year. They were heavily criticized for doing so, and will need to quickly course-correct to kill that narrative.

While there are concerns, it’s still just McCarthy’s second start in the NFL. He may have the mental reps, but putting it all together at game speed during live action is a different story.

It’s been an up-and-down start to life in the NFL so far, but the second-year quarterback has a great coaching staff around him. There’s no denying he’ll get the coaching he needs; he just has to put it all together on game days.