The Minnesota Vikings drafted J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick in last year’s draft. He was the fifth quarterback taken off the board. According to NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, they may have gotten a steal.
According to the SleeperNFL’s X account, Jeremiah believes McCarthy is not only the fourth-best quarterback prospect from last year’s class. He also believes McCarthy would be the best quarterback prospect in this class.
Miami’s Cam Ward is being projected in many mock drafts this year to be selected 1st overall by the Tennessee Titans. But Jeremiah thinks McCarthy is better than Ward and a tier above him.
Jeremiah merged the top quarterback prospects from the past two years into a single ranking.
Daniel Jeremiah on if he had to merge the last two QB draft classes:
Caleb Williams
Jayden Daniels
Drake Maye[TIER BREAK]
JJ McCarthy
[TIER BREAK]
Bo Nix
Cam Ward[TIER BREAK]
Michael Penix Jr.
Shedeur Sanders pic.twitter.com/ucq5uQDovJ— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) February 24, 2025
Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye all went 1-2-3 in the 2024 draft. But McCarthy went behind Michael Penix, Jr., who was selected 8th overall by the Atlanta Falcons. That in itself makes McCarthy a steal.
But if we assume McCarthy would be a tier above Ward in this year’s draft, that would likely make McCarthy the potential (and more obvious choice) 1st overall choice. That’d make it nearly impossible for the Vikings to trade up for him from pick 24.
There was a slight criticism of the Vikings moving up for McCarthy in last year’s draft. They traded the 11th, 129th, and 157th overall picks to the New York Jets to move up one spot, making sure no one could trade up ahead of them.
If McCarthy works out, it’s a small price to pay. And if he’s as good as Jeremiah believes he can be, the Vikings hit a home run.