All things considered, that is
There are a lot of questions surrounding Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy as he prepares to take the helm in 2025 after missing his entire rookie season. While one might expect McCarthy not to rank too highly among the 32 starting quarterbacks around the NFL, one outlet has him in a place that, all things considered, is a bit of a surprise.
Pro Football Focus has racked and stacked the NFL’s starting quarterbacks and has placed young McCarthy at #21 out of 32. While that may not sound like a terribly impressive ranking, it’s not bad for a guy who has yet to take a meaningful snap at the pro level and pretty good compared to his contemporaries from the Class of 2024.
McCarthy’s ranking puts him ahead of several of the quarterbacks who started games in their rookie season in 2024, including Drake Maye (#22), Michael Penix Jr. (#23), and Caleb Williams (#24). He’s behind Jayden Daniels (#6) and Bo Nix (#19) but, again, given that McCarthy only has one preseason game’s worth of experience at the NFL level, a ranking like this certainly makes it look like he’s pretty highly thought of.
Here’s PFF’s commentary on McCarthy’s ranking:
I’m leaning on my personal evaluation here, as I had McCarthy as the top quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft. We didn’t get to see him as a rookie, but his 2023 season at Michigan — where he earned a 92.2 PFF grade and a 93.4 passing grade — highlighted everything you want in a young passer. If he’s fully healthy in 2025, and considering what Sam Darnold managed in this offense, McCarthy is set up to succeed.
This is sort of what we’ve been saying all along. The Vikings already had one of the best collections of skill position players in the league, particularly with T.J. Hockenson finally getting back to full health, and they made a real commitment to upgrading the offensive line this offseason through both free agency and the Draft. If McCarthy doesn’t succeed in this offense, it certainly won’t be because the Vikings didn’t do everything possible to give him advantages.
It’s hard to argue that McCarthy should be much higher than PFF currently has him ranked, to be honest. But, given the circumstances, having him ranked in the upper 20s of a list like this is a pleasant surprise.