There has been some marked improvement from young quarterback J.J. McCarthy over the past couple of weeks. He has been in complete control while leading the Vikings to upset wins over the Washington Commanders and the Dallas Cowboys.
Though the mechanics are still an issue for the McCarthy in the grand scheme of his development — the leg whip when he releases the ball is as aggressive as ever — he has been much more accurate for the Vikings as of late.
The growth been noticed by pretty much everybody, including former NFL quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan, who hasn’t pulled punches on his popular YouTube channel The QB School when discussing where McCarthy has fallen short.
After dishing out some harsh criticism this season, however, O’Sullivan showered McCarthy with praise for leading the Vikings to a 34-26 win over the Cowboys in primetime.
The most recent film review from O’Sullivan is roughly 30 minutes in length and highlights some of McCarthy’s highlights from the best game of his career to this point.
The most notable comment from O’Sullivan came at the end. After shouting ou head coach Kevin O’Connell for his play calling, O’Sullivan turned the focus back to McCarthy, saying, “A pretty damn impressive performance.”
Here’s a detailed breakdown of the detailed breakdown:
The touchdown passes
After throwing an interception on his first pass, McCarthy bounced back in a big way, leading a drive and capping it off with a touchdown pass to receiver Jalen Nailor in the back of the end zone.
It’s a very good sequence from McCarthy as he rolled to his left after, spotted Nailor breaking open open down the field, then delivered a catchable ball on time. As he replayed the touchdown pass a few times, O’Sullivan credited McCarthy for not allowing an early mistake to snowball into something much worse.
“We’re showing that resiliency,” O’Sullivan said. “He does a nice job flipping his hips and driving the ball down the field.”
The other touchdown pass from McCarthy also went to Nailor and helped the Vikings pull away from the Cowboys for good. There wasn’t very much that McCarthy had to do because the play design was so good. He simply had to throw with conviction and he did.
“You can’t get this ball out fast enough,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s wide open.”
The naked bootleg
It’s no secret that O’Connell wasn’t a huge fan of McCarthy hitting The Griddy on his touchdown run. Neither was O’Sullivan as he watched the perfectly executed naked bootleg near the goal line.
That said, O’Sullivan acknowledged that McCarthy’s ball handling on the naked bootleg was exceptional, emphasizing how the sleight of hand is perhaps the biggest reason the play call works as well as it does.
“As he reverses out, he shows the ball, then he hides the ball on his hip, and shows that empty hand,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s a really nice job of making sure this side all collapses with the run fit and he’s able to walk in.”
The chunk plays
There are a few chunk plays from McCarthy that O’Sullivan spends a lot of time on, including the 58-yard completion to receiver Jordan Addison, the 29-yard completion to tight end T.J. Hockenson, and the 23-yard completion to Nailor.
The strike that McCarthy threw to Addison came as a result of some subtle pocket movement followed by some very good arm strength. Those are both areas that have plagued McCarthy at times so it was good to see the development in real time.
“A really nice job here moving to his left, getting that up and down, not running out of club,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s everything except finishing in the end zone. This is beautiful. I love the play design, the idea, the aggressiveness down the field.”
The seam ball McCarthy threw to Hockenson was arguably his best rep of the game. Not only did he showcase decisiveness after catching the snap out of the shotgun, he also threw with a good amount of anticipation.
“I love the read, the timing, the rhythm,” O’Sullivan said. “This is a big time throw and he’s making it look easy.”
The back shoulder fade McCarthy threw to Nailor showcased some feathery touch. A deeper look at the play shows it could’ve gone for another touchdown pass if McCarthy let it rip down the field.
“You don’t want to back shoulder that,” O’Sullivan said. “You want to throw that down the stem. This ends up being a really nice adjustment. They’re rewarded for the aggressiveness down the field.”
The interception
Notably, the video started with O’Sullivan basically giving McCarthy a pass for the interception, crediting him for making the correct read in the face of pressure. The play almost certainly would’ve resulted in a first down had the ball not been tipped at the line of scrimmage.
“I would classify this as bad luck,” O’Sullivan said. “This looks like it’s the right decision.”
The only critique O’Sullivan had of McCarthy was the fact that he didn’t bat the ball down while it was fluttering in the air. The ball landed in the arms of defensive tackle Quinnen Williams after McCarthy opted for more of a volleyball set than a volleyball spike.
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