Tag: J.J. McCarthy

Colin Cowherd suggests Bo Nix is best rookie QB from 2024 class

“Hot take: Bo Nix is the best quarterback this year out of this crop,” Colin Cowherd said.

When Colin Cowherd picks a side, he picks a side. And he is standing firmly on the Bo Nix hill.

Cowherd is openly all in on the Denver Broncos‘ rookie quarterback, his pairing with head coach Sean Payton, and his wide-open offense. Nix, the 12th pick in the 2024 NFL draft, became the QB who would pick up the pieces of the Russell Wilson debacle that may have set the Broncos back. 

But according to Cowherd on his “Colin Cowherd Podcast” via The Volume, the Nix draft pick will help the Broncos rebound from the last two years.

“Hot take, Bo Nix is the best quarterback this year out of this crop,” Cowherd said on a recent episode of his podcast.

That’s right, Cowherd thinks Nix could be better than Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy and Michael Penix.

John Middlekauf, a frequent guest on the show, also noted how Payton spotted the talent of Patrick Mahomes early and was keen on drafting him before the Kansas City Chiefs drafted him in 2017. That said, Payton may know he has a diamond in the rough. Cowherd believes it, too.

Here’s more from Cowherd on Nix from his TV show:

Here’s to hoping Nix is spot-on with his Nix assessment.

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Sean Payton ‘had a conviction’ about Bo Nix leading up to the draft

The Broncos scouted all of the QBs in the 2024 NFL draft and “we just had a conviction” about Bo Nix, coach Sean Payton said.

Leading up to the 2024 NFL draft, Caleb Williams was the obvious candidate to go first overall and many pundits expected Jayden Daniels to go second overall.

There was also Drake Maye, then a group of quarterbacks including J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix and Michael Penix. The Denver Broncos‘ staff scouted all of the top QBs in this year’s class, and one stood out.

“We went through that process with all of these guys, and we had a strong conviction [about Nix],” Broncos coach Sean Payton said Wednesday. “Then it’s tuning out the white noise relative to what you’re seeing. [In] 2017, we spent hours on these players. We had a certain grade on [Alvin] Kamara. I felt it wasn’t high enough, I remember just standing up on a chair in the draft room and saying, ‘We have this guy graded.’ There’s kind of this NFL train during the draft that takes place. You don’t know really who’s driving it, and you have to pay attention to it, but you don’t ever want to get on.

“All of those guys during the process did well, whether it was Drake, or J.J., Penix. You spent a lot of time with all of them, and we just had a conviction [about Nix]. His pro-day was on a Friday, and then he had a Saturday workout with us with meetings. We just kept looking at the tape and doing our homework on it.” 

Nix was not considered a top-three QB in this year’s class by pundits, but it certainly seems that the Broncos had him ranked higher than most teams. Payton did not let the opinions of analysts and other clubs change his conviction about Nix.

“I think that’s sometimes one of the challenges during the draft, is it’s harder today to tune out for the scouts and the coaches,” Payton said. “Back in the ’70s or the ’80s, you didn’t — now there is so much information out there that even as an evaluator in the building — the scouts, the GM or a head coach — that you can sometimes hear too much, and you still really have to get back to what are the things you’re looking for? That can vary by team, and that’s good. There’s nothing wrong with that, but that was kind of the process.”

In the end, Payton picked Nix, and the quarterback went on to impress this summer before being named the starter ahead of the 2024 season. Nix ended up being the sixth QB taken in April’s draft, but Payton has implied he was the target all along. We’ll see how his career stacks up against the five other first-round QBs in the coming years.

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Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell gives injury update on CB Shaq Griffin

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell provided the media with an injury update on cornerback Shaq Griffin after Thursday’s practice.

A day after receiving a slew of bad news on the injury front, the Minnesota Vikings followed it up with a day of much-needed good news. Yesterday, both Jordan Addison and Blake Cashman were injured in practices with the Cleveland Browns, and Minnesota learned that rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy was out for the season after knee surgery.

Thursday, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was able to give the media and Vikings fans some good news, instead. Along with the news that Addison had avoided major injury and that Cashman would be back soon after getting surgery on his finger, O’Connell also provided an update on injured cornerback Shaq Griffin.

Griffin suffered a leg injury three weeks ago during practice and was later determined to have a “soft tissue” injury. That injury occurred just a day after fellow cornerback Mekhi Blackmon was lost for the season with a torn ACL, so getting good news on this front is desperately needed. Minnesota was already thin at the position. They could hardly stand to be without one of their starters to begin the season.

That won’t be the case, as O’Connell updated his injury status, saying Griffin will be ready for the start of the season.

Former Panthers QB Matt Corral getting another chance at NFL

Former Panthers draft pick Matt Corral is back in the NFL.

We love a good underdog story.

As announced on Friday, the Minnesota Vikings have signed former Carolina Panthers quarterback Matt Corral. The 25-year-old now returns to the NFL after a brief stint for the United Football League’s Birmingham Stallions this past spring.

The Ole Miss standout was selected by the Panthers in the third round of the 2022 NFL draft. Carolina, in a deal with the New England Patriots, traded up into the draft’s 94th overall spot to corral Corral under former head coach Matt Rhule.

Unfortunately, he (like Rhule) did not stick around long in Charlotte. Corral sustained a Lisfranc fracture during the preseason of his rookie campaign and would eventually be waived by the Panthers before the start of the 2023 season.

Corral would then be claimed, surely enough, by the Patriots—who would cut ties with him just a few weeks later.

Birmingham came calling in February 2024, right ahead of the UFL’s inaugural season. Corral helped push the Stallions to the league’s title game with an impressive relief appearance in the conference championship round.

With first-round pick J.J. McCarthy having been placed on the season-ending injured reserve due to a knee injury, Corral rejoins another former Panthers passer in Sam Darnold to help patch up Minnesota’s quarterback room.

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Vikings place J.J. McCarthy on IR, sign former third-round pick

The Minnesota Vikings placed J.J. McCarthy on the Injured Reserve list and signed a former third-round pick.

The Minnesota Vikings officially placed rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy on the Injured Reserve, ending his season after one preseason game. The former 10th overall pick will get his next shot in 2025 after rehabbing a torn meniscus in his knee.

With McCarthy’s injury, the Vikings also announced they signed former third-round pick Matt Corral. The Carolina Panthers drafted Corral in the 2022 NFL Draft, but he never saw any NFL action. He spent time with the New England Patriots in 2023.

Most recently, Corral played for the UFL’s 2024 Champion Birmingham Stallions, going 3-0 in his starts and completing 36 of 62 passes for 494 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

With McCarthy being injured, Sam Darnold is the unquestioned starter entering Week 1 against the New York Giants. Nick Mullens figures to back him up, with both Jaren Hall and Matt Corral vying for a roster spot.

Justin Jefferson is going to earn every dollar of his extension in 2024

Justin Jefferson heads into the season being the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history, and he is about to earn every dollar of it.

Justin Jefferson has shown that he can produce no matter who throws him the ball. Last year he did it with a rotation of Joshua Dobbs, Jaren Hall and Nick Mullens. Despite missing time with a hamstring injury, he still eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards.

In 2024, though, as the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history, he will have to do more right away.

The locker room is reeling from the news that first-round pick J.J. McCarthy will be out for the entire season. That means Sam Darnold is the guy throwing to Jefferson. The highest receiving total for someone who has had Darnold as his quarterback for a season is DJ Moore, who had 1,157 receiving yards when he was in Carolina in 2021. Next closest? Jamison Crowder with 833 yards in 2020.

Jefferson is far and away the most talented receiver that Darnold has played with, but he still needs to get the ball to him. In the wake of McCarthy’s injury, the pressure on Darnold has been ratcheted up, but he isn’t being paid what Jefferson is. Fairly or unfairly, more pressure will be on Jefferson as the Vikings look to salvage the season.

WATCH: Nick Mullens connects with Trishton Jackson downfield

Quarterback Nick Mullens connected with wide receiver Trishton Jackson on a deep pass in the team’s joint practice with the Cleveland Browns

The Minnesota Vikings were dealt a massive blow on Wednesday with the news that rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy would miss the entirety of his rookie season after having surgery to repair a torn meniscus. This injury leaves Sam Darnold as the undisputed starting quarterback and a lot of uncertainty behind him.

Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall are suddenly battling for the backup quarterback duties, and Mullens appears to be taking full advantage of his new-found position. Where the two were previously fighting for a roster spot, it’s now possible that both make the roster, and 2024 could be another carousel season at the position.

If it is, it looks like Mullens has developed a connection with at least one of his wide receivers: Trishton Jackson. Jackson himself is embroiled in a position battle, his for the third wide receiver spot behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. While Jalen Nailor may have a lead in the battle, Jackson is making sure that the staff doesn’t have an easy decision by making big plays in practice, like the one below.

Despite season-ending injury, Vikings HC confident they ‘got the right guy’

While J.J. McCarthy won’t play this season for the Minnesota Vikings, head coach Kevin O’Connell is still confident they got the right guy.

The Minnesota Vikings received devastating news earlier this week, when it was revealed that rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy suffered a knee injury that would require surgery. The bad news was compounded on Wednesday, when the team announced McCarthy would be sidelined for the entire season after surgery to repair a torn meniscus.

The news comes right on the heels of the Vikings’ first preseason game, in which McCarthy saw his first live action for the Vikings, and looked good for a rookie getting his first introduction to the NFL. There were some obvious things that he needed to work on, but he looked sharp and appeared to have a rapport with several receivers. All very encouraging signs at this point in his young career.

It’s those signs and more that has Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell confident the Vikings made the right choice in the 2024 NFL Draft to take McCarthy. O’Connell spoke with the press on Wednesday after the team’s joint practice with the Cleveland Browns, saying:

“I really believe that J.J. (McCarthy) has kind of confirmed to me and a lot of our coaches and players that we got the right guy in the building for the future,” O’Connell said. “And he did it in a short amount of time. That’s what makes this news hard. Because you know just how exciting it would have been as a daily, minute-to-minute process moving forward. But I think that optimism should be felt by anybody in our building and hopefully our fans.”

The Vikings were going to draft a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft, it was just a matter of which one. While there was ample debate among fans and the media, the Vikings were confident in McCarthy when they brought him in for a pre-draft workout. That confidence resulted in the Vikings trading up one spot to take McCarthy with the 10th pick.

Fans will have to wait another year for McCarthy to make his regular season debut with the team, but he showed some encouraging signs in his first preseason action, and he has the full confidence of the coaching staff. It’ll be a long wait, but O’Connell and crew are confident it will all be worth it in the end.

Steelers have QBs and the Vikings should be calling

The Steelers have several good quarterbacks they could trade to improve the roster at other positions.

The Minnesota Vikings got some tough news on Wednesday when they found out rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s torn meniscus would require surgery and send him to the IR, costing him the 2024 season.

This leaves a potentially dynamic Vikings offense in the hands of Sam Darnold. The same Sam Darnold who has been with four teams in six seasons after being the No. 3 overall pick in 2018.

Meanwhile, the Steelers have three very viable quarterback options, all of which could be an upgrade if the price is right.

Russell Wilson was signed to be the Steelers starter but a calf strain had limited him in training camp. Nevertheless, a healthy Wilson is a huge upgrade over Darnold. Fields was acquired via trade from the Chicago Bears and has shown a ton of growth in just a few weeks of work with the Steelers.

Let’s not rule out Kyle Allen as another potential trade target. Allen had a great first preseason game and while he wouldn’t yield a return like Wilson or Fields might, he’s still a guy who could be on the block to a quarterback-needy team.

What could the Steelers get for Wilson or Fields? I suppose in a perfect world they could be a part of a package to bring in a wide receiver like Justin Jefferson but that’s just wishful thinking.

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J.J. McCarthy’s season-ending knee injury led to the Vikings making uniquely miserable NFL history

It’s a wonder Vikings fans haven’t given up on the NFL.

Whatever the Minnesota Vikings are doing right now, they need to stop and put themselves in a big old bag of brown rice. It’s probably their only path to try and salvage whatever is left of their 2024 season because I don’t think there’s an NFL Genius Bar that will fix what ails them.

There’s no other reasonable conclusion after watching rookie first-round quarterback J.J. McCarthy go down with what turned out to be a season-ending knee injury.

To be clear, unlike fellow rookie passers such as the Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams, McCarthy wasn’t expected to play a significant role for the Vikings this year. Now entrenched starter/perennial journeyman Sam Darnold likely wouldn’t hand over the reins until later in the season. Initial expectations were not high for the No. 10 pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.

But even still — that thought process was part of the Vikings’ grand plan. It was the perfect timeline they wanted for McCarthy to get a semblance of valuable game exposure before getting him off the launch pad in 2025. They wanted him to get some sense of throwing passes to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, who ironically was carted off the Minnesota practice field on Wednesday.

You can’t clone those reps. You don’t get to put them in a backlog, saying you’ll save them for later. That’s not how it works.

(Vikings fans, I am handing out free hugs at any time. Let me know.)

All of that is out the window now. All of it. And the Vikings are left holding the bag in a situation that has seen them make some of the most unfortunate NFL history in a while. Well, for this perennially snakebitten franchise, it seems to be more par for the course:

Oh … my goodness?!

Think about all the quarterbacks drafted in the first round over the last approximately five decades. Teams reach on guys who don’t belong in the first round all the time simply because it’s often worth using a flier on the most important position in the sport. And even those guys didn’t miss their entire rookie seasons!

It’s so, so Vikings that they are the first team in the common draft era to lose a rookie offensive signal caller for his entire first year because of an injury. It just had to be this gut-wrenching team. That’s akin to saying the Dallas Cowboys will be a circus only worth paying attention to for drama.

Some NFL axioms are evergreen.

Look past Minnesota’s smoldering blaze, and the Vikings are still probably making the most prudent possible decision for McCarthy and their future. He’s so young that he doesn’t even turn 22 until late January of next year. Not that they necessarily could, but it wouldn’t have made sense to remove his meniscus and force him back onto the field as fast as possible. They want this guy shining in Minnesota’s purple for a long time, making a complete repair — and longer ensuing recovery time — the practical move, even if it effectively erases a critical early portion of McCarthy’s career.

That’s all well and good, but we shouldn’t overlook the dejection in the here and now. No one cruises by the quarterback of the team missing all 17 games of his rookie year for the first time since the 1960s. That’s so grim. Not even the Vikings, no matter how accustomed to disappointment they are.

Maybe, just maybe, McCarthy will break this despondent franchise’s curse … when he returns in 2025.