On Tuesday, head coach Kevin O’Connell announced that the Minnesota Vikings were moving with quarterback Kyler Murray as their starter for the upcoming NFL season. As the news surfaced, the franchise gained traction, with many analysts in the community going after the Vikings’ history of moving on from their quarterbacks. Among many voices, one voice from Hall of Fame Cris Carter stood out as he called out JJ McCarthy for losing the QB1 battle to Murray.
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“But I’m more worried about anticipation compared to Marvin Chauvel. He only has a fastball,” Cris Carter said on the Inside Football Show. “He doesn’t have great anticipation throwing into open spaces, and that’s a trait that’s hard to teach. Sometimes you either have it, or you don’t have that.”
The Vikings have a long history of moving on from quarterbacks. Even for their 2024 NFL Draft’s first-round pick, JJ McCarthy, they let go of QB Sam Darnold and his backup, Daniel Jones, thinking that they would develop McCarthy from scratch.
Clearly, that has not worked out too well. According to Hall of Famer Cris Carter, it was McCarthy’s lack of anticipation that cost him this QB1 battle.
You cannot actually blame Carter for his assessment. McCarthy’s stats back up his claims. As on Pro Football Reference, McCarthy started 10 games last season, throwing for 1,632 yards and scoring 11 touchdowns. But the notable numbers were his 27 sacks and 12 interceptions.
These delays also point to McCarthy’s inability to read defenses quickly enough. Hence, he tries to recover the lost time with high-velocity throws, which lack the variance in the throws between intermediate, hot, and long range.
This reliance on powerful throws makes his signal-calling easier to read, increases the probability of getting sacked, and the anticipation deficit makes the QB hold the ball for longer, causing failures during in-game situations.
Hence, Carter’s concern is not simply something McCarthy can fix by adding more arm strength or studying more film. He believes anticipation is a natural trait that separates quarterbacks who consistently throw receivers open from those who wait for the play to develop.
This is where Kyler Murray entered the competition with a significant advantage in NFL experience. The Vikings signed the veteran QB from free agency for $1.3 million. Murray has spent years operating an offense at the highest level, some of the flashes were even shown by him during training camp. That experience and deep throws gave O’Connell another option if McCarthy’s was not showing enough improvement.
“There’s moments in time where you know there’s comfort from Kyler in the scheme. He had some really high completion days where he was able to show some really, really good understanding of just putting the ball in play, playing with great timing, rhythm,” O’Connell said. “You guys have seen him be explosive when there’s opportunities there, but you’ve also seen him check the ball down and put the ball in play and get us from a first-and-10 to a second-and-3. And then, as you continued to look at the body of work through those 10 days, what jumped out is what could be.”
Despite QB1 Snub Vikings Still Back JJ McCarthy
But even after losing the QB1 role, the franchise is optimistic about McCarthy’s development and his stay in the Minnesota Vikings. While addressing a presser, head coach Kevin O’Connell talked about McCarthy’s future in the franchise.
“He’s still a guy that’s only played 10 games. He’s shown improvement off of last year… as he knows, he’s holding the pen on his story. We’re going to support him and try to help him continue to improve as a young player…” Kevin O’Connell said. “The immediate temporary result wasn’t exactly what he wanted. I know he’s gonna be ready to go, continue to improve, the long-term mindset of him as a Minnesota Viking and all the things he’s brought here is still absolutely part of the long-term vision for sure. I’m excited to see him go do that, and get to do it with him.”
Kevin O’Connell’s comments make it clear the Vikings still view him as a long-term part of their plans, even with Murray taking the starting job.
For McCarthy, the next step is simple. He has to turn the concerns about his anticipation, processing, and consistency into areas of growth. If he can do that, the current setback could become another stage in his development rather than a sign that Minnesota has moved on.