Minnesota Vikings Training Camp: Will J.J. McCarthy Have a Breakout Season?

Media personality Colin Cowherd calls J.J. McCarthy a "C" quarterback. What is McCarthy's 2025 fantasy football outlook?

Jun 10, 2025; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) practices during minicamp at the Minnesota Vikings Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

All eyes are on Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy and how he's performing as training camp gets underway. With Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones out of the way, McCarthy has been taking all of the first-team reps. The Vikings finished last season 14-3. To meet or beat that record is a lot of pressure for such a young quarterback.

For some strange reason, media personality personality, Colin Cowherd seems to be obsessed with McCarthy's performance. His latest comments are turning heads as he calls McCarthy a "C" quarterback.

J.J. McCarthy, you’re going to see it very quickly. Is not what people think,” Cowherd said. “J.J. McCarthy is a C quarterback. You ever seen J.J. McCarthy’s fourth quarter college stats and playing from behind fourth quarter stats in college, with Michigan and Harbaugh and that O-line.? They’re terrible.

Colin Cowherd

Reports from camp say that McCarthy has found his rhythm and seems to have formed a good connection with tight end TJ Hockenson. The pair got together in Tennessee for some off-season practice this summer. That strategy seems to be paying off so far.

J.J. McCarthy says it’s a different feeling “and a really good one” this year in terms of his comfort level pic.twitter.com/8Ql8pXz3iB

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) July 23, 2025

Fantasy Football Outlook

J.J. McCarthy: Although he missed his entire rookie season because of an injury, don't expect McCarthy to hold back. He's been putting in the work and it shows. He's not quite QB1 caliber, but he's more than capable of being your QB2 during bye week. He'll also make a good QB2 in superflex formats.

T.J. Hockenson: Ranking TE16 in fantasy points per game last season, Hockenson didn't score a single touchdown. Building chemistry with McCarthy is crucial, and we're seeing him get a decent amount of target share in camp. All that being said, tread lightly. Hockenson is an injury risk