2025 Pass/Rush Stats
YDS
301
TD
2
INT
3
YDS
50
TD
1
Rest-of-Season Projections
2025 Fantasy Outlook
McCarthy was supposed to compete with Sam Darnold last season, but a meniscus tear in his right knee during training camp ended his rookie season. McCarthy was healthy for OTAs and is expected to start Week 1 this season. The Vikings must be confident of that, because they let Darnold leave and settled for Sam Howell and Brett Rypien as backups. There's still the question of whether McCarthy is ready for the NFL after spending his apprentice year rehabbing instead of practicing. The 10th pick in the 2024 draft, McCarthy has a strong arm and good mobility, but his mechanics drew criticism from scouts pre-draft, and he averaged only 22.4 pass attempts per game in his two seasons as a starter for loaded Michigan teams. Fortunately, Vikings wideouts Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison cover a lot of ills, and McCarthy is in a good situation under coach Kevin O’Connell, who gave Darnold 545 attempts last season. With the addition of RB Aaron Jones and subtraction of QB Kirk Cousins, the Vikings’ pass percentage dropped to 56.6 last season (from about 64 percent the previous two years). Minnesota remade an offensive line that struggled to protect Darnold late in the season, signing C Ryan Kelly and RG Will Fries, two of the top free-agent linemen, before drafting G Donovan Jackson in the first round. The Vikings also hope to have star LT Christian Darrisaw healthy after he suffered an ACL tear Week 8 last season. McCarthy should even add some rushing stats, assuming his knee holds up, as he’s an excellent athlete who ran for 632 yards and 10 TDs during his college career. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Signed a four-year, $21.85 million contract with the Vikings in July of 2024.
Serving as emergency QB again
McCarthy (ankle) is listed as inactive Thursday at the Chargers but will be available as the emergency third quarterback, Ben Goessling of The Minnesota Star Tribune reports.
ANALYSIS
McCarthy thus won't be active for a fifth consecutive game due to his ongoing recovery from a high right-ankle sprain, but his standing as the emergency third QB for a second straight contest gives him a chance to play if both starter Carson Wentz and backup Max Brosmer leave Thursday's matchup due to injuries. McCarthy himself has put together back-to-back weeks of limited on-field work, and coach Kevin O'Connell even told Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com that the second-year quarterback's workout Tuesday was "just not there," but could have been if the Vikings had a Sunday game on the schedule. McCarthy's next chance for his first action since Week 2 is Sunday, Nov. 2 in Detroit.
McCarthy thus won't be active for a fifth consecutive game due to his ongoing recovery from a high right-ankle sprain, but his standing as the emergency third QB for a second straight contest gives him a chance to play if both starter Carson Wentz and backup Max Brosmer leave Thursday's matchup due to injuries. McCarthy himself has put together back-to-back weeks of limited on-field work, and coach Kevin O'Connell even told Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com that the second-year quarterback's workout Tuesday was "just not there," but could have been if the Vikings had a Sunday game on the schedule. McCarthy's next chance for his first action since Week 2 is Sunday, Nov. 2 in Detroit.
NFL Stats
Loading NFL Stats...
Fantasy/Red Zone Stats
See red zone opportunities inside the 20, 10 and 5-yard lines along with the percentage of time they converted the opportunity into a touchdown.
Loading Fantasy/Red Zone Stats...
Advanced NFL Stats
How do J.J. McCarthy's 2025 advanced stats compare to other quarterbacks?
This section compares his advanced stats with players at the same position. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. The longer the bar, the better it is for the player.
Bad Pass %
19.5%Avg Target Depth
11.6 YdsSack Rate
18.0%Avg Receiver YAC
4.8 YdsReceiver Drop %
2.4%Loading Advanced NFL Stats...
2025 NFL Game Log
2025
2024
2025 NFL Game Log
Loading Game Log...
Snap Distribution / Depth Chart
Snap Counts
Snap %
Vikings 2025 QB Snap DistributionLoading Weekly Snap Counts...
This Week's Opposing Pass Defense
How does the Chargers pass defense compare to other NFL teams this season?
The bars represents the team's percentile rank (based on QB Rating Against). The longer the bar, the better their pass defense is. The team and position group ratings only include players that are currently on the roster and not on injured reserve. The list of players in the table only includes defenders with at least 3 attempts against them.
@ Chargers
Thursday, Oct 23rd at 8:15PM
Overall QB Rating Against
55.5
Cornerbacks
56.1
Safeties
23.3
Linebackers
107.1
Loading Opponent Pass Defense Stats...
2025 J.J. McCarthy Split Stats
Loading NFL Split Stats...
Measurables Review
View College Player Page
How do J.J. McCarthy's measurables compare to other quarterbacks?
This section compares his draft workout metrics with players at the same position. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that metric and it would be considered average.
Height
6' 3"Weight
219 lbsShuttle Time
4.23 secCone Drill
6.82 secHand Length
9.00 inArm Length
31.63 in
2024 Fantasy Outlook
McCarthy was the fifth of six quarterbacks drafted in the first round this spring, and while he may be in the best position of them all for the long haul, his rookie year will be a redshirt season following meniscus surgery in August. The Vikings have standout pass catcher Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson -- all under contract through at least 2026 -- at the disposal of coach Kevin O'Connell, whose offense provided 631 pass attempts last year (4th in the league) and 672 the year prior (3rd). At 6-3, 219, McCarthy gets impressive velocity on his throws but will still need to work on his mechanics once he's finished rehabbing his knee. While noted for his skill throwing over the middle at Michigan, he was less consistent on passes outside the numbers and had some issues when he needed to throw deep balls with touch. He also wasn't asked to do much in Michigan's run-heavy offense, averaging 22.1 pass attempts per game last season for a dominant team. McCarthy is an excellent athlete who ran for 508 yards and eight TDs the past two seasons, and he should provide some rushing stats to boost his fantasy scoring in the NFL. The typical recovery timeline for a meniscus repair would have him ready well before the start of Minnesota's offseason program next spring, at which point he'll be younger than many of the incoming rookie QBs in the 2025 draft class (he turns 22 in January).
More Fantasy News
Officially questionable for Week 8
McCarthy (ankle) is listed as questionable for Thursday's game at the Chargers.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Not ready to start Week 8
Head coach Kevin O'Connell announced that McCarthy (ankle) will be inactive as the Vikings' emergency No. 3 quarterback for Thursday's game against the Chargers.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Listed as limited Monday
McCarthy (ankle) was listed as limited on Monday's estimated injury report, Craig Peters of the Vikings' official site reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Inactive as third quarterback
McCarthy (ankle) is inactive as the Vikings' emergency No. 3 quarterback for Sunday's game against the Eagles.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Emergency third QB for Week 7
McCarthy (ankle) will work as the emergency third quarterback for Sunday's game against the Eagles, Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Latest Fantasy Rumors
Ankle still not fully healthy
McCarthy conceded Wednesday that the ankle sprain that's cost him the last three games is "getting there" but not fully resolved, Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com reports.
ANALYSIS
McCarthy's comments Wednesday were his first since suffering his injury in the Week 2 loss to the Falcons. The second-year signal-caller also acknowledged he'd received "well-respected second opinions" that had confirmed his return timetable could be as much as six weeks. McCarthy was able to practice in limited fashion Wednesday, but head coach Kevin O'Connell is already on record saying he wants him at full strength when he does return so the quarterback can fully utilize his mobility and have proper lower-body mechanics.
McCarthy's comments Wednesday were his first since suffering his injury in the Week 2 loss to the Falcons. The second-year signal-caller also acknowledged he'd received "well-respected second opinions" that had confirmed his return timetable could be as much as six weeks. McCarthy was able to practice in limited fashion Wednesday, but head coach Kevin O'Connell is already on record saying he wants him at full strength when he does return so the quarterback can fully utilize his mobility and have proper lower-body mechanics.