Former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors following his debut game in the NFL.
McCarthy led the Minnesota Vikings to a 27-24 comeback victory over the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. Struggling through three quarters, the second-year QB ignited by going 6-for-8 passing for 87 yards and two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, adding a 14-yard touchdown run to help seal the result.
In doing so, McCarthy became the first QB since Steve Young in 1985 to lead his team to a comeback of 10-plus points in his first start.
"Getting the win, that's what I'll remember most," McCarthy said postgame to ESPN's Lisa Salters. "Just being here in the hometown. You know, it's a dream come true. To all the kids out there, it's possible. I just love my guys and can't wait to go to war next week."
The Minnesota Vikings traded up to select McCarthy with the 10th overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, but the former Michigan signal-caller then missed the 2024 season with a knee injury.
McCarthy contributed to three Big Ten Championship-winning teams with the Wolverines, including back-to-back titles as the starter in 2022 and 2023. He helped guide U-M to the top of the college football world as a junior, quarterbacking Michigan to a 15-0 record, a Rose Bowl win and the College Football Playoff National Championship. When his name was called at the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit, he became the first U-M quarterback taken in the first round of an NFL Draft since Jim Harbaugh, his former coach, in 1987.
On Draft night, members of the Vikings organization explained why they had confidence in McCarthy. Here's what they said:
GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on the feedback he got about J.J. McCarthy from Jim Harbaugh:
He's his biggest fan, as you know. I know a lot about the relationship has been well documented. Obviously I talked to J.J. about it as well.
The guy knows leadership and he knows passion having been around him. I know what he looks for in a quarterback, and I'm not surprised him and J.J. had such a connection. The positivity that he brings, the culture, all those things. But then from a talent standpoint I remember when he used to talk about how much he loved Colin and different things about his skill-set and why he liked him.
So not a surprise. The conversations we've had were great. We got a lot of great feedback. Sherrone Moore was great with us. He's like, 'That's the guy. Trust me. That's the guy.' A lot of people speak highly of him. You walk in those hallways there, there's not a person that's not a big fan of J.J. McCarthy.
We're really happy with him coming here. He's excited. He's a competitive kid — I know that — and he's looking to prove everybody right, wrong or indifferent.
Coach Kevin O'Connell on what made J.J. McCarthy the right fit for the Vikings:
J.J. was a guy very, very early in the process, obviously coming off of the national championship. Guy has won at every level he's been at.
And then when you really dive into the tape and some of the things that I really look for and really emphasize in my evaluation process, there was a lot to really like about J.J.'s tape.
And that was before he absolutely crushed the process postseason, which is hard to do when you've won a national championship and done some of the things that he did as a college quarterback — to then have a great rest of the process like he did. Attacked it every step of the way, a competitor and a guy that believes very strongly that the best football is out in front of him and he's going to work like crazy to make that happen.