It’s almost become a rite of passage for an NFL quarterback.
Your film is going to get broken down by The QB School.
This comes courtesy of former NFL quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan. He spent nearly a decade in the NFL spending time with the New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders.
The 46-year-old journeyman uses his knowledge to break down quarterbacks via his YouTube channel, which offers some basic analysis, and his Patreon channel, which offers more nuanced analysis.
The roller coaster quarterback J.J. McCarthy took the Vikings on in the 27-19 loss to the Baltimore Ravens was the most recent topic of discussion. This marked the first time O’Sullivan went in depth on McCarthy via his Patreon channel.
Here are some of the highs and lows of what O’Sullivan witnessed:
The good
There was a decent amount of praise from O’Sullivan despite McCarthy only completing 20 of 42 pass attempts in the game. He lauded some of McCarthy’s play on the opening drive, for example, such as the strike to star receiver Justin Jefferson near the sideline, as well as the dime to receiver Jalen Nailor deep down the field.
As hard as O’Sullivan was across the 90 minutes of film, he also wasn’t afraid to commend McCarthy when he felt like he did a good job. He loved the scramble drill in the final minutes when McCarthy escaped pressure before finding Nailor to move the chains. He also loved the perfect throw that McCarthy unleashed to Nailor on what proved to be his only touchdown of the game.
“That’s pretty sweet,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s not open. That’s thrown open. That’s a pretty spectacular throw.”
The bad
There was a distinct part of the game when O’Sullivan felt McCarthy started to get sped up. It came after a completion to Nailor across the middle of the field.
Though it was a good throw in a vacuum, O’Sullivan lamented the fact that McCarthy didn’t stick with his initial read and target tight end T.J. Hockenson on a wheel route. He highlighted how McCarthy shouldn’t have worked to Nailor on the backside, because there was no guarantee it was going to be there.
“This drive is when things are starting to look fast to J.J.,” O’Sullivan said. “We’re skipping over things.”
It appears O’Sullivan is spot on, because head coach Kevin O’Connell mentioned earlier this week that McCarthy moved off Hockenson too quickly during his progression in the pocket.
“The miss there is rough,” O’Sullivan said. “It really is.”
The next time O’Sullivan was critical of McCarthy came on his interception to safety Malaki Starks. As much as he appreciated giving Jefferson a chance to make a play, O’Sullivan seemed to think there were better options in that moment than McCarthy simply throwing it up for grabs.
“You want to get him touches,” O’Sullivan said. “You’re going to force him the ball. You feel really good about getting 1 on 1. You don’t want to just blind chuck it either if it’s not the look that we’re looking for.”
It’s also worth noting that O’Sullivan was extremely hard on Jefferson for his effort throughout the game. He didn’t like how Jefferson lightly jogged in pursuit following an interception by cornerback Marlon Humphrey. He also didn’t like how Jefferson appeared to pull up on a few routes as his frustration manifested on the field.
The ugly
There was common theme that O’Sullivan harped on down the stretch as McCarthy’s mechanics slowly started to devolve.
“I guess I’d classify it as inconsistent footwork,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s the nicest way to do it.”
On a pretty good throw to Jefferson near the goal line that probably should’ve been caught, O’Sullivan noted McCarthy almost looks like he’s clicking his heels as he climbs up too far in the pocket.
“We’re not playing quarterback in a phone booth here,” O’Sullivan said. “We’re moving to problems and we’re going to hit our hand on somebody’s head because we can’t control our feet.”
The worsening of his fundamentals led to McCarthy airmailing Jefferson on what should’ve been a rather routine throw to the sideline. It could’ve gone for a big gain as there was nobody within 10 yards of Jefferson thanks to the play design.
“You can’t miss that throw,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s brutal.”
There was a point that O’Sullivan referred to McCarthy’s struggles as “a floating dumpster fire” while continuing to buzz through the film.
“I cannot with this footwork,” O’Sullivan said. “These things are certainly fixable. These are not things that get fixed, though, from a game on Sunday to a game on Sunday. These are offseason things.”
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