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Former Vikings Stars Speak on Minnesota’s Plan with J.J. McCarthy

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Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy in 2025 against the Lions
Jan 4, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) talks with a referee before the game against the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The 2025 season was a bit of a roller coaster for the Minnesota Vikings.

While the defense pretty much performed up to expectations throughout the year, there were some major inconsistencies on offense, particularly at the quarterback position.

It didn’t help that J.J. McCarthy was only able to appear in 10 games because of various injuries suffered throughout the year, but it also wasn’t convenient that the Vikings never quite seemed to know what they were going to get from the 22-year-old when he stepped onto the field.

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Now, heading into the 2026 offseason, two former Vikings stars are speaking out on Minnesota’s plan with McCarthy in 2025 and what should happen moving forward.

Former Vikings Stars Speak on J.J. McCarthy

Vikings Stars  on QB J.J. McCarthy
Jan 4, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) walks off the field after the game against the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images.

On Wednesday, former Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr put out a clip of he and another beloved former Vikings linebacker, Eric Kendricks discussing the McCarthy plan.

Both former Vikings seemed to agree that Minnesota should have kept a veteran starting quarterback around for McCarthy to continue learning from in 2025, particularly Sam Darnold.

“Most people in that building knew that J.J. just wasn’t quite ready yet. I think he needed an older mentor to kind of shadow for another two years,” Barr said.

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“Mentorship is crucial,” Kendricks added. “There’s some positions where it pays to have a veteran in front of you, and a little bit of experience goes a long way. I mean, we see the resurgence of Sam Donald’s career.”

Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy against the Giants in 2025
Dec 21, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) practices before the game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Granted, the Vikings did bring in Carson Wentz as their backup quarterback in 2025, but that was only after they lost Darnold to the Seahawks and were shocked to find Daniel Jones was also leaving the franchise to compete for a starting job with the Indianapolis Colts, which he ultimately won.

Wentz would fill in for five games in 2025 while McCarthy was out, but ultimately, his own shoulder injury became so bad that he couldn’t continue to give it a go. He was eventually placed on IR and had season-ending surgery.

Of course, Jones would also end up having his own catastrophic Achilles tear with the Colts, but before that, the QB had Indianapolis looking like one of the best teams in the NFL. In 13 starts, Jones threw for 3101 yards, 19 touchdowns, and eight interceptions while managing to complete a career-high 68% of his passes.

Oct 19, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones (17) speaks with head coach Shane Steichen in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Had the Vikings found a way to keep Jones in the building and given him an opportunity to compete for the starting QB job, things may have gone differently for Minnesota in 2025. Keeping Darnold around almost certainly would have resulted in a few more wins and a second consecutive playoff berth.

So, does that mean the two former Pro Bowlers are giving up on McCarthy? It doesn’t sound like it.

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“I think [McCarthy] still has potential. I think he can still be great. He’s a quarterback. He’s a year two, right? Year two, playing full-time,” Barr said.

“We’re not counting him out,” Kendricks said in agreement.


Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this article.

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Josh Frey is a senior writer at both PurplePTSD.com and VikingsTerritory.com, with a fascination for the NFL Draft. To … More about Josh Frey
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Cam Newton makes his feelings known after Randy Moss calls for Hall of Fame voting committee to be reset

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Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s exclusion from the NFL Hall of Fame 2026 class has become a topic of discussion among former players and coaches.

Former Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss weighed in on Belichick and Kraft not making the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Moss said the voting process should only involve people from football.

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Former Patriots quarterback Cam Newton discussed the Pro Football Hall of Famer’s comments on his “4th&1 With Cam Newton” podcast.

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“That ain’t right,” Newton said (Timestamp 1:05:00 onwards). “Because flip side, when we suffer a defeat, we have to talk to you… Bring all selection committees. Don’t matter if it’s the college football, committee. Doesn’t matter if the Hall of Fame committee, doesn’t matter if the All-American committee bring them all to the forefront.

“We live in a world of content. Somebody buy that right to showcase how they do it with juries… It was an ultimate sign of disgrace to not have those specific guys. I don’t care what Deflategate was. I don’t care if you think they cheated.”

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“That’s what everybody needs to really think about (with) the Hall of Fame, Kuechly said. “And the dominance (with) which he played the game is what I think needs to be talked about the most. He was just so much better than everybody else on the field. There wasn’t much he couldn’t do.”