Are The Vikings Giving Up on J.J. McCarthy Too Quickly?

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3:07the Cavendor twins. Simply play sports bets and your position on the leaderboard will determine if you win one of the 25 grand prize packages. Sign into your Bed MGM account, opt into the promotion and start placing sports bets of at least $10 to climb the leaderboard. Make this March 1 to remember, join the Court of Legends leaderboard and make it legendary. All right, we'll take your phone calls on your thoughts on the David Montgomery trade going from the lines to the Texans, Detroit getting a fourth round pick. In this year's draft, a seventh round or next year, an offensive lineman juice scrubs in the return and the effects that it's going to have on Jamir Gibbs, maybe a bigger workload on him. That could be a negative consequence, could be a positive for sure. And then how David Montgomery is going to fair now, taken over the workload for the first time in a couple of years in a running back room. But Brad, the biggest news from the weekend, to me, is the one we got from Tony Pauline reporting that the Vikings are, quote, quietly exploring an exit strategy.

4:11And quote, on J.J. McCarthy, I mean, my goodness. And then other reports that Minnesota has interest in Kyler Murray, Geno Smith, and that to a tongue of Ilola and Kirk Cousins are on the radar as well. We have been talking about J.J. McCarthy multiple times over the last couple of weeks here. Obviously had a season to forget. And his first full season, as a starter, missed all of his rookie year with the torn meniscus took over this season and just was in over his head 11 touchdowns to 12 interceptions, a completion percentage of just 58% really, really bad games throughout the season with maybe only just one or two glimpses that this guy could be the franchise quarterback here. And so the Vikings, they drafted him number 10 overall just two years ago, less than 24 months ago. And now there's a chance that they might cut him before this season or try to trade in.

5:12Look, I mean, we have been as vocal of critics as you could be on J.J. McCarthy. I can't imagine that getting rid of him already is the best idea. And if so, your replacement's going to be any of those four names that I mentioned in my opinion, holding out hope for one more year on J.J. McCarthy would be better than any of those options. Now, we made our pitch for Aaron Rogers last week. If Rogers comes to Minnesota, then he's going to be your starter. And then honestly, like, I would love for J.J. McCarthy to stay there and learn behind Rogers. But I can't imagine that getting rid of him for Kyler Murray or Geno, that's the option that Minnesota is going to go down. It's almost like they dug themselves a hole with Sam, with letting Sam Donald go. And now it's like instead of trying to claw your way out, they're just going to be like, hey, maybe if we dig deeper, maybe we can kind of like dig a hole that China and we can get out that way, I can't imagine that this is going to, that this is going to work in their favor. If they're just going to straight up get rid of J.J. McCarthy and replace him with Kyler

6:14Murray or Geno Smith, but I'm, I'm open here and then he and all options. Yeah, I'm a little bit more optimistic, not about Geno Smith, it's absolutely knee slapping, a bit of a punchline that he is even being mentioned in the same breath as some of these other guys. He's washed. He's done. He's cooked. I should not remotely entertain his services now. The artist formerly known as the Doxon of the desert, Kyler Murray does have a little bit more to his game. I shared this last week, I know it was only a five game sample size last year, but he was still top five in a just a completion percentage. He's a guy that's still completed a pretty high amount of his red zone opportunities. In fact, 65% of his red zone looks ended up being completions. He was number eight in red zone completion percentage in 2024, so it wasn't an anomaly. What he was able to achieve last year, you know, in 2024, yeah, it was just a barely inside the top 20 in deep ball completion rate, but you have, well, the best wide receivers

7:16have chucked the bill to. And Joseph Jefferson, he got Jordan Addison, he got TJ Hockinson, like there are weapons there. It's not like it's a bear cover by any start to the imagination. So I like Kyler Murray to get another lease on life, a second opportunity, going from the desert up to the land of 10,000 legs, I don't think he's a guy, it's going to drown. And all there is a member of school, school, school to a day of a low, you know, I think he's maybe a slight, you know, worth a slight consideration, especially over say a Gino Smith, though I'd rather have Kyler Murray and Kirk Cousins in a, you know, a renewal with him, a return to Minnesota. That makes some sense as well, though he got to have adequate protection, obviously. And this is a pass blocking unit to corner pro football focus that was number 14. So in the top half of the league in PVE, pass blocking efficiency, regardless, I'm with it. You know, look, JJ McCarthy, this is where you and I actually disagree, I think McCarthy

8:19is done. I think he's going to be a colossal boss is going to go into history as well. The biggest boss in quarterback of, you know, this century, a, a Rosen type, a Ryan Lee type, Marcus Russell, yeah, just you go on and on and on. There's so many of those guys that just, you know, never pan out and, you know, I always go back to how he was just very underutilized at Michigan, how horrible. I think masked him purposely because he knew about his inadequacies and overall shortcomings. And I got it was just number 37 last season at just a completion percentage major in accuracy flaws. The only completed 45 points of percent was red zone attempts, number 33 in deep ball completion rate. And again, you have Justin, flipping Jefferson, you have Jordan Addison, who is a supreme separator on roster and that's where you rank. Halemorry would be an enormous upgrade in this offense, in my opinion.

9:20I mean, didn't, haven't you, you haven't seen enough of Kyler Murray? They, the Cardinals literally had to put a clause in his contract that he had to watch game film because it's, it's the worst kept secret that the guy loves playing Call of Duty and doesn't care about football enough to take the job seriously. You haven't seen enough of Kyler Murray after that stint after the, the, the saga we saw in Arizona where Jacobi percent, I mean, you know, I know you, you mentioned his completion percentage. You know, those first five games of the season, he was uninspiring, you know, they locked into a one or two wins. They played the Saints and Week one who were terrible. They nearly blew the game against Carolina. And then they played the Tennessee Titans in week five. That was the last game he played all year. You know, haven't you seen enough of Kyler Murray to realize that he is not going to raise the ceiling in the Minnesota Vikings either. You still believe in this guy? Uh, yes. Uh, he's not quite 30 years old yet. Uh, he's going to be an interim, his age 29 season in a player. He got a member is only he removed from nearly 3,000 out of passing yards and a 68.8%

10:20completion rate and 21 passing touchdowns. And the one quality that he possesses McCarthy does to a certain extent is obviously making plays with those little docs and legs that he has a member of 2024. He ran for over 570 yards and had a handful of rushing touchdowns as well. So he's a guy that can extend those plays with the legs, being an opportunistic scrambler, which he does, you know, around five to seven times per game. So that element that he brings will keep defenses on their toes. And again, all you need is a semi competent passer in this offense when you have the electric, when you have the dynamite, Justin Jefferson to throw the pill to Kyler Murray and Justin Jefferson, I think could be an instant dynamic duo if they do sync up. So yes, I do believe that Kyler Murray has got plenty left in the tank, and it would certainly be an upgrade over J.J. McCarthy, who was just moldy bread in my mind at this point. Oh, I disagree 310 840 4910 phone number to join the show 310 840 4910.

11:28If it's down to the options that were mentioned this past weekend, Kyler Murray, Gino Smith, whether you and I are both out on no offense to Gino, I mean, after what we saw last year, I don't know how you come back from that and be a winning quarterback again. And then two and Kirk cousins who, I mean, honestly, I probably rather have Kirk cousins than Kyler Murray, but if it's just between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy, who would you rather have? I'd rather go, I'd rather stick it out with J.J. McCarthy for one more season. And I know how bad he was, but you know what, like he's got a winner's mentality. And I understand that a lot of that was a product of Jim Harball. Like you mentioned in Michigan, but let's not forget week one what he did against your Chicago Bears. Like, that was a pretty stunning show of grit and resilience to us to have that fourth quarter that he did. I'd rather have that mentality and hope that I can maybe coach out his mistakes and one more fall off season where he's not just coming off of season ending surgery the year before, but now I can hope that I can, I can coach him and mold him to be a better

12:33quarter. I mean, this is Kevin O'Connell, right? It's a guy that, oh, the quarterback whisper, you know, Combs told us he's a top five coach in the league. If he's that great, he can't get J.J. McCarthy to at least a starting level baseline category. I'd rather take the dice and roll the dice with that one more year with cheap J.J. McCarthy, rather than a guy that has the opposite of a winning mentality. And my opinion in Kyler Murray, we know his work ethic isn't that great. And you know, on top of that, like you said, all you need is a baseline passing ability. You can't even see all the offensive line. And I don't think he's that impressive with his legs as he used to be. So I'd rather honestly roll the dice with J.J. McCarthy, then go for Kyler Murray. If those are the two strongest options in Minnesota, and we haven't heard a peep about Aaron Rogers. Now is this because Minnesota is, is this because Minnesota is not just going to hold out hope. They're not going to be held hostage like the Pittsburgh Steelers were last year where they waited all the way until it was a freaking June July for Rogers to say yes. And instead, they're like, hey, we're not, we're, we're not, we're not, we can't wait

13:37for him. We can get a decision here. Or is it Aaron Rogers really isn't coming to Minnesota because I thought the stars were aligned for Rogers to complete that Brett Farve cosplay. And now I don't know about it. Yeah, I don't think it's going to happen, man. And I think we got a clue over the weekend with the other A.R. and his former teammate in Aaron Jones, him and Rogers, they call it in a couple of guys that love and respect each other. And Aaron Jones is looking to get delts out of Minnesota and a, of a trade isn't made, which is more than likely. He's going to be outright released. That was a part of my Adam chapter over the weekend. So I think that gives you a clue, gives you an indication that if they're not going to retain Aaron Jones to appease and make Aaron Rogers happy, that means that Aaron Rogers ain't coming to the land of 10,000 lakes. So I think it's going to be one of the quarterbacks that we already mentioned. My vote is still with Cala Murray. You and I are going to agree to disagree on that. You're still going to ride with nine and J.J. McCarthy and give him one more shot.

14:40But man, I think he is done, though. I would definitely find a way to get Cala Murray and try to, I know, complete some damn passes to one of the best freaking wide receivers in the NFL in just a Jefferson. Yeah. I mean, if I was like, if I'm writing a wish list, a Christmas list to Santa and I'm a Minnesota Vikings fan, first on the list would be Aaron Rogers go and sign him now. And number two would probably be if not Aaron Rogers, I would bring in Kirk Cousins. He's familiar with the organization. He's familiar with Kevin O'Connell. And then you have a quarterback competition between J.J. McCarthy and Kirk Cousins. And if J.J. still looks as lost as he did last year, then it's Kirk Cousins job and you hope he stays healthy because when he has been healthy, even though he's 37 going on 38, two years and moving the torn Achilles, I still think Kirk Cousins has like a couple of solid, really good games left in him for one more year. Option number three would be Cala Murray for me.

15:41And again, I just don't know if any of those options means that J.J. McCarthy is going to end up being on the roster. Or if they just straight up try to trade him for whatever they can get back, or if they just cut him, I can't imagine. I don't know what the return for a J.J. McCarthy trade would look like. I mean, who wants him? But also 20th. He's 23. You're just going to give up on him right away. You know, like you mentioned, the biggest bus that in quarterback history, Leaf, Chamarkis Russell, those guys all had either off the field problems, or they were just like straight up, not winners, man, like J.J. McCarthy's got a good head on his shoulders. He has just really struggled with his footwork and with his accuracy. Something that I think after two years, you can't just straight up give up on. Well, here's something that's somewhat coincidental. Maybe he goes to Sam Donald route, right, and breaks out like year seven, but it's not going to be with this organization. Some guys that just got a bounce around, they got to take their lumps, they got to learn

16:45and they got to improve their overall games and then it can unlock their full and true potential. It's just not going to be in Minnesota, and I agree with you going back to Kirk Cousins. If I had a second choice, he would be it. I think Cousins can still spin it. God, it's in his mint 30s. He completed 54 and a half percent of his red zone attempts. It came McCarthy last season, only 45 points up percent in that category. And again, you have what should be a top half offensive line, which is a downright necessity to have on the field when you have a stone statue with Kirk Cousins at the controls. But I will tell you this, if they do sign Cousins and it comes up, you know, a monomy monocomposition between him and J.J. McCarthy, give me whatever the odds are right now, Kirk Cousins is going to win that battle, and he's going to wrap that sucker up, play with it two weeks of training camp 310 840 4910, phone number to join the show. What do you think the Vikings should do with J.J. McCarthy and who would be your target

17:48for the Vikings to bring in to either be the starter or compete in a quarterback competition with J.J. McCarthy, phone number to join 310 840 4910. And we return, we'll break down the two big college hoops games tonight, number one in the country, number two in the country, number six in the country. They are all in action, it will break down Duke and NC State and Iowa State, Arizona, when we return. He's Brad Evans on Papua Oil. This is Bed MGM tonight on Westwood One Sports. What do you need to know? Westwood One Sports.

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