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J.J. McCarthy showed real promise before season-ending surgery, and more preseason impressions thus far

nate tice
Staff writer
·12 min read
25

We finally are getting the drip of football games to watch and respond to (and re-respond to, and re-re-respond to, and ...). Wasn’t it great?

Now that the dust has settled on our first preseason games, I took a gander around the NFL and what stood out and what has me reevaluating and confirming prior takes.

Those first games were a reminder of how fun football is, and how sloppy preseason football is. It also was a stark reminder of the downsides of this great game. Like, say, injuries that come out of nowhere to a team’s first-round quarterback!

J.J. McCarthy grew on me throughout the scouting process. His limited sample size checked the boxes for those into the strict #QBwinz fare, but his actual play had more flashes from which to extrapolate his NFL potential than you’d first expect. He has a pro-ready arm (that he sometimes has to hitch into more than you’d prefer) with a loose athleticism that allows him to get creative with how he places the football, plus a real understanding for playing quarterback, something that showed up at the Vikings training camp practices I attended.

The best aspects of McCarthy’s game showed up during his first (and now only) preseason jaunt: the pocket movement, live arm, athleticism and willingness to stand and fire on his throws all popped up against the Raiders.

It wasn’t perfect. He still could move through his reads at a quicker rate and eliminate an extra hitch (both things that should and will improve with more live reps — which, ya know …). He got punished with an interception when trying to do a little too much. But it was everything you could hope to see for the youngest quarterback in his class dipping his toes in NFL waters for the first time.

Sadly, McCarthy won’t get to add to his Loch Ness Monster-esque sample size this season. Not because Sam Darnold clearly outplayed him in the preseason (although Darnold had his preseason moments as well), but because of a surgery to repair a torn meniscus in McCarthy’s knee.

It’s disappointing that we won’t get to see McCarthy potentially add more layers to his game during his rookie campaign with real tangible football plays. But he has been placed in a strong environment with one of the better offensive minds in the game in head coach Kevin O'Connell; a solid enough line; an improved and likely more explosive run game (going from Alexander Mattison to Aaron Jones, even if it’s only a chunk of the games, is such a huge improvement); and in this writer’s eyes, the best wide receiver in the league in Justin Jefferson. Now, T.J. Hockenson is still working back from injury and Jordan Addison went down in practice with his own injury (though O'Connell said he thinks he'll be OK), but this offense should be at least in the top half of the league as long as the quarterback has a pulse.

McCarthy, tantalizing, showed that he had one. And I think Darnold has one, too. He’s not going to pull a 1998 Randall Cunningham or anything, but Darnold has the tools and Leeroy Jenkins-esque style that can get hot. With the offense the Vikings could have, along with a chaotic Brian Flores defense that can also create scoring runs, it all makes “getting hot” an appealing option in the fairly wide open NFC.

And now — again, this is theory until we see it for more than a month — Darnold has a stronger environment around him that could keep him away from his worst tendencies of trying to do too much, with better teammates taking advantage of the, shall we say untraditional chances that Darnold will create.

From a schematic sense, the offense will feature plenty of play-action, which will let Darnold push the ball to create (positive) damage for the offense while also limiting the choices and possible (negative) damage he could inflict. Also, keep an eye on Darnold on designed runs. He has long been a weapon on these runs, especially in high-leverage scenarios like in the red zone, and I can see O’Connell salivating at finally being able to take advantage of defenses fully committing on the running back.

The McCarthy injury news is tough but there's a silver lining that he has strengths to build on and is perhaps further along than expected. Plus, the rest of the offense and team, with a swashbuckler calling defensive plays in Flores and now another loon behind center, still has a chance to be a hard out that can bring the fight to any team this year.

I really, really, really liked Graham Barton in the draft process. So much so that he finished as the 12th overall prospect on my final big board. I understood that Barton would likely never play tackle in the NFL. But his upside as an interior player, especially as a true needle-moving center, made me think that he could have a booster effect on the offense as a whole.

Well, Barton ended up going to an absolutely ideal spot for his services. The Buccaneers' run game and interior offensive line play in 2023 was poor. Dave Canales was committed to a run game, but running behind overmatched players led to some highly ineffective results. Barton, and I say this with the giant glowing light of “SMALL SAMPLE SIZE” glowing behind me, has already looked like a difference maker for the Bucs' offense.

If Barton can be just above average, it would be a significant improvement in Tampa. Same goes for right guard Cody Mauch and his improvement: If it can just be average, it’s an improvement from the level established last year.

This has made me more bullish on the Bucs the more that I have marinated on the idea of what they currently are. Sure, Baker Mayfield will have some regression from how he performed on third down last year — he ranked sixth in EPA and seventh in success rate on late downs, and 18th and 24th in the same respective categories on early downs — but the improved run game will offset Baker's boom-or-bust ways. Shortening the passing downs and the asks of Mayfield will allow the whole offense to be more consistent.

Also, look at the dearth of centers that hit the market and in the draft. What used to be a “figure it out later” position now has teams considering their investments in the starter and depth at the increasingly more important position of center (and interior offensive line play), a response to the talent along the interior of the NFL right now and the creative, some would say evil, looks that defensive coordinators use. It’s early, but I’m still bullish on Barton with the Bucs.

Christian Wilkins is a very good player and is now playing with a very good player in Maxx Crosby. And this past weekend was a good reminder of that.

The Raiders' defense has a chance to be a strong unit this year. Seeing Wilkins wipe out the Vikings' drive as a run defender and pass rusher showcased that the Raiders are more interesting than you’d first think.

Just ignore the competition that’s currently happening at quarterback right now.

I’ve been giddy about Jordan Love and the Packers' offense for a while now. But, after keeping an eye on their defense this offseason and giving that unit a gander during their first preseason tilt, their defensive front has piqued my curiosity.

The interior pass rush, even without Kenny Clark, had some real juice to it. Devonte Wyatt finally looks like he’s ready to make some consistent noise, even if it’s just as a pass rusher. Karl Brooks looks like he’s primed for a breakout second season that will catapult him out of the football hipster starter card set.

The edge defenders have proven pressure generators in veterans Preston Smith and Rashan Gary, but now should be supplemented by a player in Lukas Van Ness who should ascend rapidly as he gets more playing time.

The entire defense should be in line to improve with a more cohesive structure (although new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s preferred Cover 3 scheme is an interesting zag in the current NFL landscape), and the defensive line and its potential ferocity could help drive the way for the young and talented Packers.

I’m more of a believer in the Seahawks this season than most. They return a large portion of their cast of characters and have added to some weak points in the roster (including defensive play-caller).

I’ll still have to see more out of new head coach Mike Macdonald as a play-caller in Seattle until I’m ready to anoint it as an instant-turnaround, but his kaleidoscopic scheme should be fun to see tacked onto this Seahawks defense that has actually some strong front personnel to work with and a star in Devon Witherspoon on the backend.

That front also looks like it has been bolstered with first-round draft pick Byron Murphy II, who rocks and should make an instant impact this year.

Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, in his first season in the pros after making a name for himself at the University of Washington, has also had me feeling more optimistic about the Seahawks this year. He is a creative play-caller who was already mixing in plenty of shifting, motions and RPOs during Seattle’s first preseason game.

The heavy use of tight end motion, popularized last year by teams like the Rams, Packers, Dolphins, 49ers and Cardinals, is already showing up leaguewide in the preseason this year. And the Seahawks are no different, and could perhaps have a few of their own formation twists (Grubb’s use of bunch and stack formations is a lot of fun) starting to get cherry-picked by play-calling comrades.

The Seahawks also showed some things in their first preseason game, particularly vertical concepts with plenty of switch releases from the receivers, that have me excited to see Geno Smith progressing through them instead of Sam Howell typically deferring to something on the outside. If the offensive line can be just solid (and healthy), then this offense could really find a groove with Grubb dialing things up.

And this might be reading between the lines a little too much, but there seems to be buy-in from the Seahawks. Watch Jaxon Smith-Njigba (No. 11) burying the defender with his block:

Chiefs reporters were tweeting out the rep counts for the Chiefs' running backs during practice following their first preseason game. And a surname was included with the first team plays that grabbed my attention. That name was Steele.

Now, Carson Steele wears No. 42 and is listed as a fullback on the roster. So, I thought that meant he was just on the field for those plays blocking for Isiah Pacheco. But no. It turned out Steele was getting touches in practice with the first- and second-team offense. Like a real, actual running back.

After reviewing the Chiefs' first preseason game against the Jaguars, I can see why the coaches were eager to push Steele up the depth chart as August rolled on.

Pacheco is locked in as the Chiefs' starter. But he has not exactly been the model of consistency as a runner and in terms of staying on the field (at least last year). Deneric Prince has gotten looks with the Chiefs' second team as well this training camp, but keep an eye on Steele continuing to earn more touches as things start clarifying leaguewide.

Thought this was too good not to share. Spencer Anderson overselling a light tap that would make Shawn Michaels blush:

Outside of his flop, Anderson actually had a strong first preseason game, too. Look for him to further stabilize what could be a strong run game emerging in Pittsburgh this season under Arthur Smith. Check out those double-teams!

This play fired me up.

That tackle on the cornerback blitz encapsulates his play style perfectly. If you have a moment, check out Stiggers’ backstory and how he got to the NFL in this profile by my Yahoo Sports cohort Jori Epstein.