The Minnesota Vikings decided to give J.J. McCarthy a fresh start with the New York Giants, and now the former first-round pick is taking advantage of that.
With the Giants trailing 34-10 in the fourth quarter in Week 6 against the New Orleans Saints, McCarthy replaced Jameis Winston and helped bring the team within striking distance of winning that game.
He completed 11 of 21 passes for 243 yards, one touchdown and one interception, finishing with a 90.0 passer rating. Although the Giants fell short of a comeback win, McCarthy’s performance could put him in the conversation to become the team’s starting quarterback.
Nonetheless, when it comes to Minnesota and whether they moved on to quickly, former Vikings linebacker Ben Leber believes that McCarthy might be a better fit for the Giants’ offense.
“Good for him,” Leber said in an Oct. 19 appearance on KFAN. “… He goes out there in a big, critical moment and makes the throw. If you’re taking those little wins along the way, there’s no reason to think that J.J. can’t figure it out. I can already hear the Vikings fans screaming about how impatient we are with him.
“I just think that we have to keep in mind that different offenses fit different quarterbacks in a variety of different ways; I just don’t think that, overall, even if he becomes successful in this system with the Giants, it means that we were impatient with him [and] I think they just saw that he doesn’t fit this offense. He just is not going to be the guy for our future, especially with the new GM.”
J.J. McCarthy Making Improvements After Trade to Giants
Moreover, Leber noted that McCarthy looks to have taken the trade as a wake-up call to fix any issues in his game that led to the Vikings deciding he wasn’t their guy going forward.
“I saw the play where Drew Brees very nicely complimented him that it was sort of that quote-unquote layered throw over a defender, a second-level defender, and the ball was caught around the numbers. He was like, ‘Hey, this is a throw that he struggled to make in Minnesota, and he has vowed to practice it and drill it and get it down and understand it.’
“… He looked great. I loved hearing everybody go nuts for him. It was fun to see all of his teammates go crazy for him and I really did appreciate the lack of face paint that I saw from J.J. McCarthy. There were some improvements and some maturity that’s happened in the last couple of weeks.”
Former Vikings WR on J.J. McCarthy’s Week 6 Showing
Meanwhile, during an Oct. 19 appearance on KFAN, former Vikings wideout Adam Thielen shared his happiness for McCarthy’s showing in Week 6.
“I love it, [and] I was so fired up,” Thielen said about his former teammate taking advantage of this fresh start in New York. “I saw the little video after the game, all the guys coming up to him and not congratulating him, but saying, ‘Hey, appreciate you.’
“That was awesome, giving us a chance and fighting and coming back. But that’s him. He’s a fighter, man. He loves the game; he loves people. He loves to be out there competing, and he showed that yesterday.”
Vikings Get Blunt Take on J.J. McCarthy After Week 6 Performance