Caleb Williams vs J.J. McCarthy
By: Jeremy Trottier
The NFL has an abundance of talent across the league at various positions, who are all at different points in their careers. The quarterback position is a prime example of this notion, as you have such a wide gap between players like Joe Flacco and players like even his teammate Shedeur Sanders in age and in style of play. This is seen all around the league, even just in a divisional setting, such as the NFC North, which has had a relative youth influx for three out of four of their franchises recently, with Jared Goff being the only true veteran in the division at the moment.
The other three teams have found new options, with Jordan Love developing into an exceptional talent, the Chicago Bears selecting Caleb Williams, and the Minnesota Vikings moving on from Sam Darnold in favor of J.J. McCarthy. This decision is a tough one as quarterback is such a volatile position overall, but ensuring you get the right player is critical to team success long term, and McCarthy was a highly touted draft pick so they opted to go with him in this scenario.
The question then becomes, which of the two recent draft picks in the division has the upper hand at the moment, Williams or McCarthy? The former had a relatively tough rookie season overall, while not bad by any means, it was somewhat lackluster aside from a few impressive showings. He would accrue 3,541 passing yards on 351 completions, with a 62.5% completion rate, 20 passing touchdowns, 6 interceptions, and a 87.7 passer efficiency rating.
The most notable part of his stats though is how often he was sacked, taking 68 sacks worth 466 yards of negated offense, with 10.79% of his plays being sacks. This can definitely be attributed to poor offensive line play no doubt, but it is also due to that rookie battle of learning to sense pressure at a high rate. Over time he should develop to understand that more often, but an improved offensive line this offseason will likely help. Adding Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman, and Jonah Jackson to the mix should help to improve his pocket and give him a fighting chance against the pass rush.
J.J. McCarthy on the other hand would miss his entire rookie season due to a knee injury ahead of the season, but is ready to go for 2025. He was not exactly the most impressive of the 2024 draft prospects at QB, but he had a winning pettigree and some solid traits to build off of. He also has a pretty exceptional supporting cast, starting with his coach Kevin O’Connell, who was able to completely turn Sam Darnold’s career around with his scheme, so fitting McCarthy into the mold should go rather smoothly. With Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, and Aaron Jones as playmakers, he has plenty of options to turn to and learn from in the offense.
Additionally, the offensive line is a solid unit for the Vikings, with Christian Darrisaw holding down the fort on the blindside, and then a mixed bag of talent and off-season acquisitions making up the last spots. They would spend a premium pick at No. 24 on Donovan Jackson this past draft, in hopes that he can show flashes in year one and keep things moving forward.
So who has the edge for 2025? Ultimately it comes down to the extra year of playing time, as Williams should be considered the better candidate for a breakout this season considering he already has a year under his belt, and also has a new head coach coming in who loves to build the offense with Ben Johnson. While McCarthy is a solid prospect, he just hasn’t been on the field to provide a sample size yet, and rookies often take time to develop in many cases, more often than not. With that said, both have a high probability to produce well in 2025, so it will be intriguing to see how both pan out over the course of the season.
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