Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy is the highest-selected quarterback in team history, picked No. 10 overall in last year’s draft.
That status carries an expectation that McCarthy will be not just good, but great. However, expectations are difficult to live up to at the quarterback position, and it’s safe to say that NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks comparison leaves more to be desired.
On a May 19 episode of the “Move the Sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks” podcast, Brooks compared McCarthy to Alex Smith. The No. 1 overall pick from the 2005 draft, Smith won just two playoff games and made three Pro Bowl appearances in a career that was marred by injury.
“[Multiple quarterbacks have] enjoyed a high level of success under Kevin O’Connell. I believe that continues, but I believe it continues in a different way with J.J. McCarthy,” Brooks said. “To me, J.J. McCarthy is more like an Alex Smith-type quarterback, meaning he’s talented enough, he’s athletic enough to do a bunch of different things, but he also understands how to play winning ball based on what he did at Michigan.”
Brooks’ comparison wasn’t a slight against McCarthy, rather he sees the young quarterback currently as a high-end game manager who can commit to playing in O’Connell’s system in the short term.
“I think Kevin O’Connell, early, is not going to give him [a lot] and expect him to go win the game. I think he’s going to set the other guys to do it,” Brooks added. “He’s going to be a high-end trailer. If he operates like a high-end trailer for the Minnesota Vikings, where he lets the rest of the team carry him, the Minnesota Vikings can win a ton of games.
“And then, as he gets comfortable, maybe he shows some of the playmaking ability at the end of his second year.”
