Hogs Haven on J.J. McCarthy

McCarthy's strong 4-game stretch (70.3 QBR, 8.4 Y/A) came vs. weak defenses; durability and early-season struggles remai

McCarthy was traded from the Vikings to the Giants for a fifth-round pick after quickly falling out of favor in Minnesota. After being NFC Offensive Player of the Week in his NFL debut (Week 1 win over Bears), he lost a QB competition to Kyler Murray in training camp and fell further when Kevin O'Connell preferred Carson Wentz as his backup. Over his final four starts in 2025 after returning from a concussion, McCarthy was quietly productive: 64.3% completion, 8.4 yards per attempt, 5 TDs and 2 INTs plus 2 rushing TDs, with a 7.7% sack rate. His 70.3 Total QBR over that stretch ranked seventh in the league, just behind Matthew Stafford's MVP season, fourth in yards per dropback, and eighth in passer rating. However, these numbers come with major qualifiers: he faced the Commanders (second-worst defense by QBR), Cowboys (fourth-worst), Giants (10th-worst), and Packers (second-worst without Micah Parsons). Minnesota dialed up designed runs 46% of the time and asked McCarthy to throw only 21 passes per game, playing at the third-slowest pace. McCarthy has struggled with durability, missing all of 2024 with a meniscus tear and seven games in 2025 with high-ankle sprain, concussion, and hand injury—starting only 10 of 34 possible contests in his first two seasons. At 23 years old, younger than Ty Simpson (Rams first-round pick), McCarthy could follow the second-act success path of Darnold, Bryce Young, Malik Willis, and Baker Mayfield, but the source cautions that even Darnold and Young were not as bad early in their careers as McCarthy was in 2025, and they had more impactful college passing responsibilities.

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