JJ McCarthy was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but he wasn't able to play last season because of injury. Now, he is set to be the starting QB for the Vikings this upcoming season, and while there is a lot of hype surrounding him, there are also a lot of doubters. A big reason why people aren't sold on McCarthy is because his stats didn't light up the box score when he was at Michigan.

The Michigan football team has always had a run-first offense, and that was no different when JJ McCarthy was there. McCarthy didn't throw for over 3,000 yards in either of his full-time starting seasons, but that's because he didn't need to. He didn't have as many yards as a lot of other top QBs, but he also didn't throw the ball as much.

A perfect example to illustrate McCarthy's efficiency is that he completed over 72% of his passes during his final season with the Wolverines. When Michigan needed him to throw the ball, he did. Still, people that just look at his yardage totals aren't sold.

“A lot of [the public doubt] just comes with the stigma of playing at Michigan and not throwing the ball a lot,” McCarthy said, according to an article from ESPN. “But at the same time, it could be my frame. They don't see a 6-5, 240-[pound] guy, so how can you throw at 61 miles an hour at the combine? But at the end of the day, it's going to show up and the people that know, know.”

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One thing that JJ McCarthy is definitely not lacking is confidence. He has always known that he has the ability to be successful, and he has never worried about what other people think of him. He just performs and wins.

McCarthy is looking to prove a lot of people wrong this season as he gets ready for his first year in the NFL. A lot of good things have been said about him so far this offseason, and it sounds like McCarthy is in a good spot.

“It's been awesome,” McCarthy said, “because they've really pushed the limits on just what I can handle, and that's what I asked for. I'd rather sweat in training and limit the bleeding on the battlefield when we get there.”

A new QB era is about to begin in Minnesota. The Vikings selected JJ McCarthy because they thought that he had the potential to be their next franchise QB. Because of last year's injury, the wait has been long as fans are eager to see the first-round pick in action, and McCarthy is ready to show Minnesota that it got a good one.