News - Adam Schefter Gives 3 Reasons Why 'Pressure Is Big Time' on JJ McCarthy vs. the Lions

Schefter then listed his second reason why he’s going to be watching McCarthy closely today. “There’s a lot of pressure. We’ve already seen what some of the quarterbacks in that draft class are doing. Look at Drake Maye. Look at Bo Nix. Look at Caleb Williams. Look at Jayden Daniels. Minnesota’s waiting on JJ McCarthy,” said the analyst. The players listed are all second-year QBs who have proven their worth already in the NFL. Maybe Williams still has a ways to go, but he’s shown flashes, and under Ben Johnson, he could evolve into a franchise quarterback. Meanwhile, the Vikings still don’t really know what they have with McCarthy. He led the team to a comeback win in Week 1, but other than that, he’s been MIA due to injury. This led Schefter to list his final reason why he’ll be watching McCarthy today: expectations. “I think because some of these celebrated quarterbacks have left, people are expecting a lot from him.” It’s hard to deny that this is indeed the reality Minnesota is dealing with. It’s not McCarthy’s fault for letting Darnold and Jones walk. It’s also not his fault that the team is putting so much stock in him, yet he hasn’t been able to produce. Injury has held him back, and we still don’t know what type of player he truly is. Maybe we’ll find out more about McCarthy today, though. That’s why we’ll be watching the Vikings vs. Lions game just as closely as Schefter. It’ll be interesting to see how the young QB responds to adversity and if he can lead the team to an upset win. There’s still time for the 3-4 team to turn things around and make a playoff run. But a loss today would possibly cement the idea that this is a rebuilding season for Minnesota.