T.J. Hockenson compares J.J. McCarthy's 'sick' arm talent to Matthew Stafford

Hockenson is providing more evidence to support the Vikings' decision to move forward with McCarthy as QB1.

J.J. McCarthy | Image courtesy of the Minnesota Viking

As the days tick off the calendar and it's become cemented as fact that J.J. McCarthy will be the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings in 2025, we're starting to learn more about how McCarthy has separated himself and given the Vikings comfort in the decision to move forward with him commanding the huddle.

On Monday, tight end T.J. Hockenson raved about McCarthy during an interview on the Green Light Podcast with Chris Long. Specifically, Hockenson nodded to McCarthy's mind and "insane" arm talent.

"J.J.'s my dog. That's my guy. Great dude, great person. I can't say enough good things about him. He wants to be great in this league and you can tell that by his preparation," Hockenson said. "I think he's going to be incredible and I can't wait for that to translate to Sunday."

Hockenson got an up close and personal look at McCarthy as both were in the training room recovering from knee injuries for the first half of the 2024 season. Hockenson was rehabbing a torn ACL that he suffered on Dec. 24, 2023 in a game against the Lions, while McCarthy was in the early stages of recovering from a torn meniscus that wiped out his rookie season after one exhibition game.

"I can't say enough good things about that guy. You're just going to have to see it when it comes around," Hockenson said.

When asked what McCarthy brings to the table as a separating attribute, Hockenson pointed to the 22-year-old's mind and arm talent.

"It really is his mind. He has a calming effect, but also an intentional effect when he's trying to communicate with you about what he wants on routes, what we want on routes. He's learning about us as an offense, us as wide receivers. He wants to know the game of football. That's huge as a young guy. You gotta be able to learn the game. It's a little different stepping from college to the NFL. These guys are a little smarter up here. They'll use their leverages, they'll take chances when they need to. To be able to learn that and learn the circumstances behind that and what they're doing is huge. He's always asking questions," Hockenson explained.

"His arm talent is there. He's got a sick arm. I told him this the other day, I said I remember catching passes from [Matthew Stafford] and it's one of those balls and it just zips on you. It looks like it's not coming, but it's coming — and J.J.'s got the juice behind it where it kind of has that effect. It doesn't look like it's coming, it's a tight spiral, but it's coming. It's humming in the air. He's got an insane talent, arm talent, and really the personality he has goes really well and I think he's going to have a long career."

Notably, McCarthy fired a football 61 mph at the NFL combine before the 2024 draft. The record at the combine is 62 mph by Josh Allen and Joe Milton, so there's hard data to support the zip Hockenson is talking about.

The Athletic's Dianna Russini has long reported that Minnesota didn't rule out Aaron Rodgers because they needed to see more from McCarthy in the spring. Well, we've made it to spring and the word from Hockenson is that they've seen more than enough to trust him as QB1 in 2025.