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The Minnesota Vikings’ offense has struggled in J.J. McCarthy’s first year as the team’s starter. While the Vikings’ passing game was an asset with Sam Darnold under center last season, it’s become a liability with McCarthy at the helm.
McCarthy admitted the adjustment has been difficult. And his inaccuracy has increasingly frustrated teammates. Former NFL quarterback and current analyst Dan Orlovsky laid out several mechanical issues he’s seen in McCarthy that he believes are contributing to the QB’s ugly 52.9 completion percentage. Ultimately, Orlovsky deemed the young passer’s problems concerning but fixable.
However, Alec Lewis of The Athletic put the proposed fixes in perspective. “Some of the mechanical changes Dan is talking about here require pretty extensive (offseason) development tied to movement repatterning. Josh Allen did this. Required a guy named Chris Hess to do a full biomechanics motion capture, then both S&C and throwing work from there,” Lewis wrote.
Lewis made it clear there’s no quick fix for the Vikings’ ineffective passing attack. After boasting the league’s sixth-ranked passing game in 2024, Minnesota is 23rd this season. While McCarthy adjusts to the pros, the Vikings have fallen out of the playoff hunt at 4-6.
“J.J.’s been really interesting this year because there’s so many throws on tape that you sit there and say, “That is perfect. It looks perfect.” And then there’s a throw that would happen five passes later that blows your mind how bad of a miss it is…. And it makes no sense as to why. So when you try to figure out, OK, what’s going on with him, I think you find out the mechanical inefficiencies and the mechanical differences [are at the root of his problems],” Orlovsky said on the Pat McAfee show.
“McCarthy overstrides… He’s a back-to-front thrower instead of a rotational person. So when you’re back-to-front, it’s always going to vary when the ball comes out of your hands. That’s why you see some of those egregious misses.”
Orlovsky also pointed out that McCarthy’s right leg tends to fly forward on passes, noting that most accurate passers keep their feet on the ground. Additionally, he noticed that the sophomore QB isn’t keeping his left shoulder tucked.
McCarthy will attempt to get the Vikings back in the win column when the team travels to Green Bay for a divisional showdown with the Packers in Week 12.
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