Minnesota Sports Forum

I'm a little concerned at this point with a few things and I wanted to draft him. I'm getting the feeling maybe I was wrong?

First is his accuracy overall. Certainly the drops by receiver's has been an issue. But the sailing of passes and complete misses overall are an issue. Though are injuries (ankle and hand hurting that?) The lack of a run game and KOC's failure to stick to a run doesn't help things as well.

Second his touch and anticipation are not good yet either. That was what I saw on his college play. He's fine zipping it, but the off speed touch is not where it should be, obviously. Brady says it, I said it before we drafted him.

Third is his longer then optimal delivery. Which goes back to number two. His passes are getting batted down because he throws a fastball, not a shorter quicker touch pass with more arc. Defenders can tell when he's about to throw it and simply jump and bat the passes down. Now having a strong arm is nice but relying on it too much causes issues. The pass isn't easily catchable either, back to number two.

Finally his escapablity isn't great either. He can run, however he's more easily tackled by an arm and knocked down. He's simply not strong enough in the lower body.

Now all these things can get better and will. However he might need a couple more years before he's a good QB.

Get stronger, work on touch and work on a shorter quicker delivery. Lots of non ideal traits to be frank.

Depending on how the season plays out, I would consider drafting another QB in the draft. Probably not 1st rounder, 2nd to 4th rounder. Just to have another guy in the pipeline in case. Unless they feel like Brosmer could be a guy, I kind of like him as a backup probably, and Wentz. Meh. If not drafting a guy then go to the QB bin and hopefully find a better backup in the offseason.

It goes back to those nebulous concepts of leadership and being a "winner". JJ is a winner and great team mate! Ok....BUT you have to have the NFL QB technical skills to go along with the intangibles, which you are pointing out in much better detail than I could. Did our front office get drunk on his intangibles, only to overlook his lack of tangibles?

It also goes to show that all of the breathless coverage over a couple of his big wins earlier in the season was overdone and hyperbolic....but that's typical in today's media landscape.

Yesterday we lost on a last second field goal to the 7-3 Bears (only one game behind the best record in the NFC), despite a dreadful performance by our QB that was only better than Shadeur Sander's disaster. What that proves to me is what I have been saying since the start of the season: this Vikings team was good enough to compete if we only had an average QB behind center. Wentz was not going to be all-pro, but he was competent until he got hurt. And he was connecting with Jefferson...Jets averaged over 100 yards a game with Wentz at QB, but closer to 50 with JJ. Jefferson is far from being a diva, but he was visibly upset with McCarthy yesterday. How long before he asks to be traded to a team with a QB that can utilize his talent?

It was painful listening to Tom Brady try to say nice things about our QB yesterday. As others have said, he has some strong qualities: leadership, athleticism and a strong arm is a good start. But what he is lacking makes those strong qualities nearly irrelevant. Am I ready to declare him a complete bust? No, of course not...he's 22 years old. But I'm certainly worried that we might have wasted a first round pick on a QB that may never flourish in the NFL.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Nov 17, 2025 2:44 pm It goes back to those nebulous concepts of leadership and being a "winner". JJ is a winner and great team mate! Ok....BUT you have to have the NFL QB technical skills to go along with the intangibles, which you are pointing out in much better detail than I could. Did our front office get drunk on his intangibles, only to overlook his lack of tangibles?

It also goes to show that all of the breathless coverage over a couple of his big wins earlier in the season was overdone and hyperbolic....but that's typical in today's media landscape.

To their defense a little, we were picking 11th in that draft (traded up to 10 to draft him), while 4 or 5 QB's got picked ahead of us. Word was KOC really wanted Maye. But NE was unwilling to trade, barring some kind of kings ransom (several 1st rounders maybe more who knows). I think maybe trading all those picks if possible might have been worth it!

I'm not calling him a bust for sure. However I see many things which are underwhelming so far and I am concerned that even two years from now he might not be good either! That's the issue.

Let's just see if we can get some progress the rest of the year which would ease my anxiety a lot!

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Nov 17, 2025 3:58 pm Yesterday we lost on a last second field goal to the 7-3 Bears (only one game behind the best record in the NFC), despite a dreadful performance by our QB that was only better than Shadeur Sander's disaster. What that proves to me is what I have been saying since the start of the season: this Vikings team was good enough to compete if we only had an average QB behind center. Wentz was not going to be all-pro, but he was competent until he got hurt. And he was connecting with Jefferson...Jets averaged over 100 yards a game with Wentz at QB, but closer to 50 with JJ. Jefferson is far from being a diva, but he was visibly upset with McCarthy yesterday. How long before he asks to be traded to a team with a QB that can utilize his talent?

It was painful listening to Tom Brady try to say nice things about our QB yesterday. As others have said, he has some strong qualities: leadership, athleticism and a strong arm is a good start. But what he is lacking makes those strong qualities nearly irrelevant. Am I ready to declare him a complete bust? No, of course not...he's 22 years old. But I'm certainly worried that we might have wasted a first round pick on a QB that may never flourish in the NFL.

I guess patience is hard, while he's performed below my expectations thus far. All is not lost. My hope for this year was to win one playoff game. It was a lofty goal since KOC hasn't won one yet, and doing so with a 22 y/o rook at QB would be impressive. That's not happening.

Now lets just see if the last half dozen of games are better then the first 5. If he shows no growth, then I would strongly consider plan B and draft another guy (again probably not 1st round but in that 2nd to 4th area if you like a guy). Not giving up on JJ, just adding another guy to the pipeline that could step in if need be, and we know JJ hasn't exactly stayed healthy either.

You never know when you could find a diamond in the rough. Plenty of great QB's even the GOATS have not gone in the first round. Just keep swinging till you hit a homerun. What has bothered me the most about the Vikes is that they don't even swing! How many busts at CB have we drafted? Whats the difference if it's a QB? It's just one draft pick. Take some swings.

Now maybe JJ shows us, hey he's going to make progress. We'll see.