JJ McCarthy's pseudo-rookie season has been an absolute nightmare. While the Minnesota Vikings quarterback had his moments this year, McCarthy's 2025 season has been more bad than good. His last two games, in particular, have been pretty awful. It's led to some uncomfortable discussions about the Vikings rookie quarterback.
The stats that McCarthy is getting this season aren't helping his case. Per Danny Heifetz, the Vikings quarterback has graded out poorly as a passer. So poorly, in fact, that his only peer in that stat is none other than the infamous JaMarcus Russell.
“J.J. McCarthy now ranks 851 out of 852 in EPA per Dropback among qualified passers since 2000, per Tru Media,” Heifetz posted on Bluesky. “The only player below McCarthy is JaMarcus Russell.”
EPA per dropback (or Expected Points Added per Dropback) measures how many points a quarterback is expected to add whenever he goes to pass. This season, the Vikings quarterback has a measly -0.22 EPA through his five starts. McCarthy has not only been bad for the Vikings, but he's been actively costing them games this season with his awful play.
Against the Green Bay Packers, McCarthy was absolutely dreadful for the Vikings. The 63.2% completion rate was the only positive of his game, and it only came on 19 pass attempts. He threw for just 87 yards and threw two interceptions compared to no touchdowns. It was the second game in a row where McCarthy threw two interceptions: in Week 10, McCarthy had 150 yards while completing just 50% of his 32 passes.
Getting compared to arguably the worst bust in NFL history is never a good sign for any player. That being said, the Vikings quarterback is still young, and he still has room to improve. Right now, though, things are looking pretty bad for McCarthy in his first year in the league.
