'Really good signs': What QB School’s J.T. O’Sullivan saw in J.J. McCarthy

J.J. McCarthy completed 4-of-7 passes for 30 yards and led the Vikings on a 12-play drive that ended with three points in his only series of last week's preseason opener against the Texans. How did he do overall? Former NFL quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan, who played for Minnesota in 2005, reviewed the game tape and said McCarthy was "at least more than competent."

While there wasn't confetti falling at the end of the QB School video on YouTube, O'Sullivan gave a very thorough breakdown of all of McCarthy's passing plays. The biggest concern he had with the small sample size was McCarthy's accuracy.

"Take a deep breath with me here," O'Sullivan noted. "The precision and the ball placement, kind of the accuracy of the throws... we could've probably put the ball a little more precise."

Specifically, O'Sullivan was critical of McCarthy's overthrow on an intermediate shot over the middle of the field. "That's a throw we probably gotta make," O'Sullivan said, "and we would expect him to make here pretty soon. I think he could help himself with a deeper, better-timed drop."

He didn't like the third down late in the drive when McCarthy thew the ball off balance and the ball sailed to running back Jordan Mason. He also noted that McCarthy's first pass on a naked bootleg to Jordan Addison was slightly behind his receiver.

However, the throw that McCarthy was criticized for most was a long completion to the sideline in which Addison made a diving catch. It was the same play that rookie left guard Donovan Jackson got bull rushed and tripped, making McCarthy throw with a defensive lineman breathing down his neck.

"The throw, the outcome makes it look like its some crazy diver. I really think there was a collision at the top of this route. I love the fact that McCarthy is playing with anticipation," O'Sullivan said of the throw. "There's some collision, holding, something going on here that makes this look like a more impressive catch than it is a bad ball."

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O'Sullivan praised how Minnesota schemed McCarthy on the move, setting him up in space to use his athleticism in the event that he needs to run like he did on a fourth down play for a first down. That said, O'Sullivan didn't like that McCarthy slowed down before getting out of bounds.

"Any time you slow before you get out of bounds, it only takes one knucklehead to put real harm on this cat and go full Drew Bledsoe. And it's not just Bledsoe. I've seen it many times. I've seen it end people's careers. I've seen dudes never be the same," he said. "Just run through the white full speed. Please. Please. At any level of football. That is flirting with getting blasted."

Bledsoe suffered a concussion, collapsed lung and internal bleeding when he slowed down near the sideline and took a big hit from linebacker Mo Lewis in a Patriots-Jets game in September 2001. Tom Brady replaced Bledsoe, and the rest is history.

"I thought there were some really good signs," O'Sullivan said. "Was it perfect? No. Young guy, coming back from injury, zero expectation for it to be perfect. But I think you saw the foundation, the structure for some really good signs."