2025 Vikings Season

[nicksaviking]

I hate to say it, but JJ McCarthy's path to being the Vikings long term QB has significantly narrowed. The timing of his injury is absolutely brutal. Unless Wentz goes out and throws for 350 yards and 3 TDs against both Cleveland and Pittsburgh, I think McCarthy will get his job back. 

But for how long? After the two Europe games the Vikings have a bye week, so the following week is the most probably time for him to return. But against the Eagles. Then the Chargers, Lions and Ravens. 

So what if the Vikings DO happen to win the next two weeks (in which they'll likely be favored) and sit at 4-1 heading into the bye, how many of the Eagles, Chargers, Lions and Ravens games can JJ lose before both fan AND player pressure causes the coaches to turn back to Wentz? It's going to be the big media talking point even before the Eagles game and it's going to intensify 1000x every time they lose after.

And then if/when they do go back to Wentz, the faith in McCarthy is going to be at a low point heading into the 2026 season; lower than it was heading into 2024 or 2025. If he's riding pine at the end of the year after not showing anything in 2025, I think there's a serious chance he's not handed the starting job in 2026.

This is both so frustrating and so Vikings.

[nicksaviking]

Also, yesterday's game was as ton of fun so sorry about the downer tone. If the defense stays hot and the OLine stays mostly healthy, I think this is a playoff team despite the schedule.

[Mike Sixel]

JJ is going to have to face those tough Ds eventually. I think it is on KOC to run and call quicker passes when he's back. For me, I expect him to play like a rookie, so, ya, both those games sucked. But he'll have a few good games too. 

He might just get hurt again against one of those Ds though.....

[Mike Sixel]

Off McCarthy.....

Darrisaw might be the most important player other than Jefferson. They were much better with him out there (no real shock, Skule and Rouse are not NFL players, yet .... if ever).

[Mike Sixel]

Yikes?

 

[Vanimal46]

42 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I hate to say it, but JJ McCarthy's path to being the Vikings long term QB has significantly narrowed.

It’s a conundrum. McCarthy looked raw the first 2 weeks and needs reps to improve. But the rest of our roster is built to win right now. It would be a disservice to the rest of the veterans if we jeopardize our playoff chance to develop a rookie QB. 

As long as we keep winning with Wentz and he’s taking care of the football, I’d give the nod to him over McCarthy. The kid just isn’t ready for the bright lights. 

[Mike Sixel]

3 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

It’s a conundrum. McCarthy looked raw the first 2 weeks and needs reps to improve. But the rest of our roster is built to win right now. It would be a disservice to the rest of the veterans if we jeopardize our playoff chance to develop a rookie QB. 

As long as we keep winning with Wentz and he’s taking care of the football, I’d give the nod to him over McCarthy. The kid just isn’t ready for the bright lights. 

He'll never be if he doesn't play. If the coaches believed in him before the year, they have to stick with him. If they didn't believe in him, the GM should have been let go, not extended. 

[gunnarthor]

I'm not as worried. I don't think Wentz was all that good, actually. His numbers were better than he was - and JJ's numbers against Atlanta were worse than he was. Wentz is 32 - he's not Darnold. He's not going to turn back into the 2017 version. He had happy feet, bailed early (and backwards), and looked down his receivers. He just so happened to be the benefit of an amazing defensive performance and played against one of the bottom five defenses. 

Too many smart people in the Vikings think JJ will be the guy. I'm not smart enough to say they are wrong. Let's just relax and see how it works out. McCarthy made it seem like he might be back in a week or two so he could start before the Philly game. But, in general, the things that need to improve the most were the o-line and the play-calling. Let's see how those go against the stronger defenses in Pitt and Cleveland. 

[nicksaviking]

I don't want to pull the plug on McCarthy either, it's just that upcoming four game stretch of the schedule is absolutely brutal and tracking to turn the mob against him. Even though a rational mind would know that the Vikings would be lucky to win even one of those four games with any QB under center, if those defenses make McCarthy look bad (as they do many QBs) god help us.

Maybe you just hide from the noise and let Wentz get manhandled by the Eagles and Chargers so it's more natural to turn back to McCarthy after that? It would be blatantly obvious that the kid was shielded, and having to shield a QB makes me even less sure that I'll ever trust him, but those teams can do what the Falcons did but exponentially better.

Of course if the Vikings and Wentz were to win those games, then there's no question that the team rides him the rest of the way. It just seems like there are so many avenues that the Vikings can find themselves in the same situation they were with Cousins and Darnold the past two seasons. Expiring vet contract and long-term QB situation still unknown. Yuck.

[Mike Sixel]

Jackson out until after the bye

[nicksaviking]

That's news to me. Those are two tough DL's the Vikings have to deal with the next two weeks. Does Jurgens slide over to guard assuming Kelly is back? I liked Jurgens so far.

[DocBauer]

McCarthy is still close to rookie status. His OL did him no favors in the first 2 games. KOC had admitted his play calling might have not been the greatest. No question McCarthy has room to grow and improve. But from what little we've seen of him, including late in the Bears game, I don't have a lot of doubt the kid has a bright future. But he does remain a work in progress.

That defense, even with injuries, looks potentially dominate! The DL impressed the hell out of me against Cincinnati. And that line was Allen, Redmond, and Rodriguez most of the game.

Darisaw back makes a tremendous difference. I expected more from Skul. I thought Jackson had a hell of a game, and I also thought Fries took a step forward. Never understood certain websites stating Jurgens was a big question mark. I thought he looked pretty solid as a rookie in last year's preseason, and even better this preseason. I thought he had a good game as well.

Losing Jackson really stinks, but Brandel is a solid, experienced player who should do a decent job.

Quick shout out to Scott off the bench. And is Price the best return man we've had in years?

[Vanimal46]

5 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

I'm not as worried. I don't think Wentz was all that good, actually. His numbers were better than he was - and JJ's numbers against Atlanta were worse than he was. Wentz is 32 - he's not Darnold. He's not going to turn back into the 2017 version. He had happy feet, bailed early (and backwards), and looked down his receivers. He just so happened to be the benefit of an amazing defensive performance and played against one of the bottom five defenses. 

Too many smart people in the Vikings think JJ will be the guy. I'm not smart enough to say they are wrong. Let's just relax and see how it works out. McCarthy made it seem like he might be back in a week or two so he could start before the Philly game. But, in general, the things that need to improve the most were the o-line and the play-calling. Let's see how those go against the stronger defenses in Pitt and Cleveland. 

Wentz got rid of the ball quickly and efficiently. I think you’re really downplaying how bad McCarthy looked the first 2 games. The offense was awful for 7 out of the 8 quarters he played. He’s still just 22 years old. Could be a college senior at this point. There’s nothing wrong with saying he’s not ready to lead a team with Super Bowl aspirations. 

[Vanimal46]

4 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

I liked Jurgens so far.

What? He had 3 horrible penalties on Sunday. And to answer your question Brandel is going to be the starting LG 

[Vanimal46]

5 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

He'll never be if he doesn't play. If the coaches believed in him before the year, they have to stick with him. If they didn't believe in him, the GM should have been let go, not extended. 

He’s 22 years old Mike. 

[Mike Sixel]

13 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

He’s 22 years old Mike. 

 I'm not sure if that's about him playing, or if they don't believe he's good, that's a huge issue for the GM who can't draft?

Either way, regardless of his age, he's cheap for six years, one of which is gone. If you think he needs reps to be good, better starting now than year three.

[Mike Sixel]

20 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Wentz got rid of the ball quickly and efficiently. I think you’re really downplaying how bad McCarthy looked the first 2 games. The offense was awful for 7 out of the 8 quarters he played. He’s still just 22 years old. Could be a college senior at this point. There’s nothing wrong with saying he’s not ready to lead a team with Super Bowl aspirations. 

I don't think anyone thinks he's ready. I've made that clear But he needs reps, in game, to get there imo. 

[Vanimal46]

1 minute ago, Mike Sixel said:

 I'm not sure if that's about him playing, or if they don't believe he's good, that's a huge issue for the GM who can't draft?

Either way, regardless of his age, he's cheap for six years, one of which is gone. If you think he needs reps to be good, better starting now than year three.

Where I disagree is forcing him to play if he's not ready. Green Bay hasn't had a QB problem in 30+ years, and a huge reason why is being patient with their young QBs. Love and Rodgers both sat for 3 years and both seem to be doing pretty good. 

[Vanimal46]

McCarthy is in a much different situation than anyone else in his draft class. Williams and Maye were 1 year older than JJ, and getting reps for teams that have no expectation of winning. Jayden Daniels was a 23 year old draftee 5th year senior. Bo Nix and Michael Penix were 24/25 years old with 6+ years of college experience under their belt. They should be playing right now 

[gunnarthor]

53 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Wentz got rid of the ball quickly and efficiently. I think you’re really downplaying how bad McCarthy looked the first 2 games. The offense was awful for 7 out of the 8 quarters he played. He’s still just 22 years old. Could be a college senior at this point. There’s nothing wrong with saying he’s not ready to lead a team with Super Bowl aspirations. 

I think you saw a different game on Sunday than I did. Besides the first drive, Wentz didn't really look good until the game was taken over by the defense. And this 7/8 quarters thing is a silly Cris Collinsworth talking point. If he threw the TD to Jefferson a minute earlier, does it matter? Here's the thing, McCarthy played well enough week one to be the NFC offensive player of the week. And we should've been up at half in the Falcons game but for some weird play-calling and coaching once he drove us to first and goal at the 2. 

He's not a finished product, not by a long shot. But he's good enough for the Vikings to win with now and, hopefully by playoff time, be a lot better. 

[TheLeviathan]

5 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

That's news to me. Those are two tough DL's the Vikings have to deal with the next two weeks. Does Jurgens slide over to guard assuming Kelly is back? I liked Jurgens so far.

Brandel.

[TheLeviathan]

I think people are getting way ahead of themselves after three games.

The Vikings had much better play-calling on Sunday and the defense played like we expected.  I get that over-reactions are basically built into our sports dialogues now but anyone ready to roll with Wentz for the next 5-6 weeks after that game really needs to cool their jets a bit.

Maybe he'll play out as another redeemed QB for KOC.....or maybe we got our LT back and we remembered how to mix the run, pass, play-action, deep shots, and quick game with sanity. 

Wentz played competently, which is great!  McCarthy is young and he'll need some time to develop, but part of helping that development is play-calling like Sunday.  What we do for a young QB should be similar to what we do for a shaky journeyman - keep it simple.  Hopefully this gives KOC some clarity on that in the weeks to come.  

Then we can start making some judgements.

[Vanimal46]

39 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

I think people are getting way ahead of themselves after three games.

The Vikings had much better play-calling on Sunday and the defense played like we expected.  I get that over-reactions are basically built into our sports dialogues now but anyone ready to roll with Wentz for the next 5-6 weeks after that game really needs to cool their jets a bit.

Maybe he'll play out as another redeemed QB for KOC.....or maybe we got our LT back and we remembered how to mix the run, pass, play-action, deep shots, and quick game with sanity. 

Wentz played competently, which is great!  McCarthy is young and he'll need some time to develop, but part of helping that development is play-calling like Sunday.  What we do for a young QB should be similar to what we do for a shaky journeyman - keep it simple.  Hopefully this gives KOC some clarity on that in the weeks to come.  

Then we can start making some judgements.

I'll give you that. The playcalling was better yesterday for sure. I hope McCarthy was taking notes to get rid of the ball quickly like Wentz was doing. Plus his athleticism is going to be light years better than Wentz after multiple knee surgeries. For now I am in no rush to bring back JJ. 

Mackey said this on their Purple Daily Vent Line yesterday and I agree completely. The blueprint for the 2025 Vikings winning games is this, in this order:

Suffocating defense, effective running game, passing as a compliment

[TheLeviathan]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

I'll give you that. The playcalling was better yesterday for sure. I hope McCarthy was taking notes to get rid of the ball quickly like Wentz was doing. Plus his athleticism is going to be light years better than Wentz after multiple knee surgeries. For now I am in no rush to bring back JJ. 

Mackey said this on their Purple Daily Vent Line yesterday and I agree completely. The blueprint for the 2025 Vikings winning games is this, in this order:

Suffocating defense, effective running game, passing as a compliment

I think that's right, give McCarthy those chances to take big shots in smaller doses.  

I think KOC was calling a Darnold-like gameplan again despite the fact that those long developing plays were getting Darnold killed too.  (Because he also held the ball too long)

Keep it simple, short and take your big shots judicially.  But I bring back JJ the moment he's healthy enough.  

[Mike Sixel]

15 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Where I disagree is forcing him to play if he's not ready. Green Bay hasn't had a QB problem in 30+ years, and a huge reason why is being patient with their young QBs. Love and Rodgers both sat for 3 years and both seem to be doing pretty good. 

Fair, but GB had Favre and Rodgers playing in front of those guys......the Vikings have Wentz. I think it was about the other two guys as much or more than waiting until the new guys were ready. 

[Mike Sixel]

Ryan Kelly to the IR (and a bunch of other stuff). Sigh. 

[nicksaviking]

So who had John Wolford on their back-up QB bingo card? I'm guessing no one. He wasn't on anyone's practice squad and hasn't appeared in a game since 2022.

Very odd choice. I presume this means Brosmer is and was always going to be the number 2. Otherwise the Vikings would have had their choice of the top practice squad QBs.

[The Great Hambino]

32 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

So who had John Wolford on their back-up QB bingo card? I'm guessing no one. He wasn't on anyone's practice squad and hasn't appeared in a game since 2022.

Very odd choice. I presume this means Brosmer is and was always going to be the number 2. Otherwise the Vikings would have had their choice of the top practice squad QBs.

Yeah, seems like more of a Mannion-esque study buddy than an actual backup.

He was with KOC in LA a few years ago

[nicksaviking]

57 minutes ago, The Great Hambino said:

Yeah, seems like more of a Mannion-esque study buddy than an actual backup.

He was with KOC in LA a few years ago

Agree. He's likely almost exclusively there for his presence in the QB room. Still, no other team wanted him for that role?

[Aggies7]

What’s the passtronaut doing these days? 😂 what a sad state of affairs