Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Washington analyst compares Jayden Daniels to J.J. McCarthy

Episode Date: January 25, 2025

Matthew Coller is joined by Mark Bullock of Bullock's Film Room to compare Washington rookie QB Jayden Daniels to Vikings rookie QB J.J. McCarthy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here and joining me on the show, Mark Bullock from markbullock.substack.com, formerly of The Athletic, writing about the Washington Commanders. And every time anything with the Commanders comes up, Mark, you've been my go-to guy. And mostly there's been sadness in your eyes because this team has just struggled so much to be relevant or even interesting. And for a while there, when I'd have Jan, I'd say, you know, this should really name them the Washington sharks because they don't even have a team name. Now they've got a name. It's not great, but whatever. And that doesn't matter anywhere near as much as the quarterback they have in the situation one game away from reaching the Super Bowl. I would love for you

to tell me about the journey of going from last year where they win, what, four games, and it's just miserable, to Daniel Snyder gone, new ownership, new quarterback, new coach, and NFC championship game. How has that been for you, my friend? It has been one hell of a wide ride. I'll tell you that much. Yeah, I don't think anyone expects them to get to where they're at, but it's been a hell of a lot of fun watching it.

And I think if they somehow manage to get themselves to the Super Bowl, they should have another rebrand and just call themselves the Washington Daniels because he is the centerpiece of it all. But he's not the only factor. I think Adam Peters becoming the GM, obviously starting with the ownership, Josh Harris and his ownership group, taking buying the team from Dan Snyder was obviously just huge,

one monumentous moment for, for the franchise. And that managed to set the ship going the right way. And then being able to land Adam Peters and, you know know there was this the whole fiasco that wasn't really a fiasco if you know this inside story which uh i think the national belief is that you know ben johnson turned them down and they had to settle for dan quinn uh i think the real story is a little bit more they were a bit more sensitive on ben johnson

than people realize and they were very, very high on Dan Quinn and I think that has been proven right this year. You've seen all the things that Dan Quinn has done. Basically everything he's touched has turned to gold. Everyone was sceptical of him hiring Cliff Kingsbury. That has

worked out pretty well. Everyone was sceptical of why are they taking Jaden Daniels over Drake May or whatever with the second overall pick? That's turned out pretty well for them. Why are they going to Zach Ertz as their tight end when he's over the hill? That's worked out. Bobby Wagner has worked out. So almost every decision that Dan Quinn has made has worked out. And I think the culture that he's put in place, and along with the coaching staff that he assembled, and then the front office that Adam

Peters, the GM, has assembled, has been nothing short of first class. And that has, you know, played a pretty big part in how the team has been successful. But then they obviously nailed that number two pick. And then Jaden Daniels has been this X factor that has elevated the roster far beyond what it's really should be capable of. And yeah, it's just been phenomenal. And it's been a lot of fun to watch. They deserve a lot of credit for some of the people that they were able to bring in. Frankie Louvu is a good player for them. Bobby Wagner. I mean, Seattle good player for them. Bobby Wagner.

I mean, Seattle was pretty much done with Bobby Wagner and then he comes there and sort of reinvigorates his career. One of the best signings, Doris Armstrong was one of the best signings. I think of the entire off season, a guy that if you kind of looked a little under the radar in Dallas, that every time he was on the field,

he was an impact player for them. They would know him in the division, bring him over. And now he is a key player on that pass rush. So I think there's been a lot of really good low key additions that sort of prove you don't always have to get the number one free agent. If you can get five really good free agents, wink, wink Vikings this off season, maybe get three good linemen instead of just one. But, uh, with Jaden Daniels, I want to talk about, could just go through that draft again, because I think we

knew that it would be monumental or NFL shifting what was going to happen in that draft and involved the Vikings and, and the bears and so forth. But I mean, I think now there's no question looking at it right now that the bears would draft Jaden Daniels if they could. Uh, but the pick of Daniels over may was not a popular one with a lot of the draft analysts. And I really like what I saw from Drake may with a complete abomination of a situation in new England. But what, what can you say about that decision? Because I think that there were at least some questions about how much the wide receivers pumped up Jaden Daniels and the

circumstances, some of the hits that Jaden Daniels took, uh, was very questionable, but I remember watching back the Florida game where he just went completely berserk. And I actually was going back and looking at some of my old takes during the draft season. And I noticed that he had really learned throughout that year to get rid of the ball quickly. And what I've seen from him this year is getting rid of the football in NFL speed, drop back, back foot ball is gone, which is not what a lot of people talked about Jaden Daniels as doing. So relive that decision for me. Yeah, so obviously the big one was Caleb was going to go one to the Bears. And so it was for most of the draft process, it was people assumed that Drake May was going to go two,

Jaden Daniels was the next guy, and then J.J. McCarthy was the guy after that. And I think if you went off just the tape or the film alone, you could pretty much scramble up those three. Jaden Daniels had some phenomenal tape, and he had some concerns that there was stuff about the pressure-to-sack ratio, there was a lack of examples of him throwing over the middle of the field, and, yeah, the hits were the big concern for me. But, you know, there was a lot of good in his film, obviously. And then when you look at Drake May,

there was plenty of real high upside stuff with him as well. But there was these random misses where his mechanics were really wild and and he would just you know he has the arm talent to make these incredible throws and then on the next play he'd miss an easy throw to the flat and you'd be tearing your hair out going why are you doing that so um there was questions about him as well JJ McCarthy was I think a little bit raw um but I I I really liked him as well. And at one point I had him as my quarterback too, behind Caleb. What I settled on was Caleb, Jaden, JJ, and then Drake, May,

as the fourth guy. But they were all pretty close. And so I think it was just a really, really strong draft class. I think what people have missed, and it's something that you don't really, as an outsider, get privy to is the mentality that Jaden Daniels has. And I think that's something that has really shone in his rookie year is how poised he is, how calm he is,

and how no moment is too big for him at all. And a lot of that comes from playing a lot in college and having that experience, and especially at a big college like LSU and playing in big moments there. It helps that he does this VR stuff where he's practicing constantly um the work ethic is insane people talk about him getting to the building stupidly early and staying stupidly late and that's obviously the the cliche first one in last one out but he's actually doing stuff there he's you know he's he's learned from he struck up a really good relationship with bobby wagner and he's learned from a real good guy like that of how to study film i think uh

marcus mariota has also helped him with being a former number two overall pick that was a heisman trophy winner and a not too dissimilar skill set um so he's had some real good experienced guys around him i think the the coaching staff that Dan Quinn put together has really helped as well. And they've done a really nice job of not being like, hey, I think the thing that has stood out in Washington is I compare it to RG3 when he was drafted. When they drafted RG3, they said, this is our savior. And they put him on a pedestal

straight away. He was doing all the interviews. He was speaking after practice every game, after every practice and training camp and he was the centre of attention and this group were very, very cautious to not make Jadon Daniels the centre of attention.

He would do his obligations, media obligations but they wouldn't put him up for anything extra that he didn't need to do um and I don't think he necessarily wanted to do that he he wasn't that kind of personality either and they shielded him really well and that allowed him to just focus on what he does um do a lot of the VR stuff and he's in the VR headset all the time practicing at faster speeds than what he would see in in the NFL and then when it comes on Sunday no moment's too big for him he's seen everything a lot faster all the time practicing at faster speeds than what he would see in the NFL. And then when it comes on Sunday, no moment's too big for him. He's seen everything a lot faster.

And so it's all slowed down and he's perfectly calm and poised. And it's been a fantastic recipe for success. And I think it's that mentality that we aren't privy to without being able to interview him and his teammates and his coaches in college and stuff like that. I think that is what probably sets him apart from the rest of that group. But I still think the rest of that group's all really, really talented. And I think it could be one of those. We look back in 5, 10, 15 years going, this was one hell of a draft class.

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consultation with healthcare provider and will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply apply see website for details and important safety information i remember seeing that stat a hundred times with the sack to pressure ratio and everything else and thinking like i get it but i and i know there's some correlation uh with some quarterbacks that have worked out and not worked out but i also think it's a little bit different between if you have a Will Levis taking a bunch of sacks who isn't really a running quarterback and someone who's trying to make plays all the time.

And I think what Cliff Kingsbury has done really well is he has structured a lot of the short passing game for him in a way where the ball has to come out of his hands. And it really blew my mind that when he had a clean pocket against Detroit, the ball came out in 2.2 seconds because there were a lot of screens that were out of slants and quick throws that he has no other choice. It's like, it's getting into your hands and it's getting out of your hands. So he's not allowed to really do a lot of that scramble around and playmaking. And I think that that's helped him become an on-time quarterback who then, if he has to, makes a play, which I would say that's for all the guys, for Jackson, for Allen, for Mahomes, is that 60, 70% of the time you're an on-time quarterback. That's also not how college football is played. College football is very rarely played with someone being on time all the time, having to get it out in 2.2 seconds.

You look at those times to throw for college quarterbacks, three and a half seconds on average, right? I mean, so I think part of it was, hey, it's your job to scramble around and make plays, which means you are going to get dragged down at times. And I've just come to the conclusion that as much as I love stats and I really love them, that there's no stat that is ever going to tell you about quarterbacks. If it's edge rushers, yeah, look at pressures and sacks, man.

That's the job. But there's so many moving parts to something like that. I thought that was way overblown for Jaden Daniels. But the fact that he has learned so quickly to be an on-time quarterback, that is the biggest challenge in the NFL because your offensive line can't handle defensive lines. That's just a fact of life. You're not going to have all day back there. And every offense is built so specifically with timings where it's like,

when this guy hits his third step out of his break, the ball's got to be gone. And it's got to be gone 10 yards out in front of him to this landmarker. And that's just not college football. It's sort of like Malik neighbors go get open. I'll throw you the football. And his adjustment to that has been astounding to me because this is like real NFL quarterback play. This isn't some sort of like, let's kind of tweak and screw around with an offense so we can just sort of get a rookie on the field. Yeah, it has been really good to watch. And I think you saw some of it early in the year where he was scrambling around a little bit much and relying on his legs a little bit too much but it was literally like the first game or two of the season um and by sort of week three or four

he was he was realizing actually i need to work in the pocket and and live in the pocket and then scramble to to pass if i need to um but and use my legs if i need to but ideally live from the pocket and you know he's had a few games here and there where he's gone off course with that, but for the majority of the season, you see this steady progression where he's become this guy that can live in the pocket and win from the pocket. Then when the pressure arrives or when he needs to, he's able to show off the legs that he has and go scramble and make a play. I agree with you, the pressure to sack thing was always overblown.

For me, I went back and once they drafted him, I went back and watched all of his sacks in his last year in college. Because when I saw the stat number, it was never something that I noted down, like, oh, he's holding onto the ball a lot here. That was something Washington saw last year with Sam Howell when he was their quarterback. He had a really high pressure to sack ratio in college. And that was something that did translate because if you watch him, you could see he's sitting there in the pocket, holding the ball, waiting for something to get open.

That wasn't what Jaden was doing. Jaden was generally making plays and, you know some of the sacks were you know offensive line getting beat real quick or um he was trying to scramble around and got tackled uh short the line of scrimmage or something like that they weren't typical sit in the pocket hold on to the ball and that that is where the pressure to sack ratio is a is a good stat but it can be misleading it's it's if it's the context of it is if the quarterback sitting in the pocket and holding onto the ball for too long, that's when that becomes an issue. And that was just never something that stood out on film to me, uh,

with, with Jaden and it hasn't in, in his pro career so far. Um, and you've seen the last two weeks, uh, they've played probably the two most aggressive defenses, uh, in the playoffs with, with the bucks and the Lions in terms of blitzing. And he's taken one sack over the two games. And you saw against the Lions, he shredded them. I don't know. The exact stat is something like 12 completed passes for like 190 yards

or something like that against the Blitz. So, yeah, he's been phenomenal in that regard. So I was never too worried about the pressure to sack stuff. There was questions about his ability to throw over the middle of the field. I was never too worried about that because if you looked hard enough, there was examples of it. It was more a case of in college LSU just didn't ask him to do that because why would you?

You have Malik Neighbors and Brian Thomas that can just run down the sideline and get open pretty easily so why not use that but but when they there were examples and you could see that he could do it and that has proved to be the case in the NFL he's done it really well especially down the stretch he's thrown over the middle really well the the one concern that i did have was the hits that he took in college um and you would quite often see he would start scrambling and running for extra yards and part of what made him so special was he could miss open field tackles and turn a 20-yard run into a 40-yard touchdown um but sometimes when he would cut back inside instead of stepping out of bounds and accepting that you know i've made 20 yards when he would cut back inside instead of stepping out of bounds and

accepting that you know i've made 20 yards here he would end up cutting into a player and taking a huge hit and um and he was really reckless with that in college uh and i think he took one in week two i think it was week two no in week three against the giants uh where he scrambles and he was going to the sideline and he decided i I can try to cut back inside this guy. And he took a hit to the ribs that kind of knocked him out. I think Mariota went in for a play or even a series. And he was just winded. He was okay. He did come back into the game,

but I think that was kind of a wake up call to him to be like, I can't do that in this league. I can't get away with that in the NFL. And pretty much since then, he's been a lot more cautious. And there's been times where I've been like, if you really wanted to sprint up that sideline, you could have turned that into a big run. But he's been more cautious,

and I'm perfectly happy with him being more cautious and accepting a four or five yard run instead of risking a hit for a 30 or 40 yard run so um so that's the that's the one big moment of development that i thought that was going to be a big issue of him was he was going to kind of expose himself to hits that he didn't necessarily need to take um and that generally speaking hasn't been a problem for him he he did have an injury but it was on uh it was on a long run where he got caught from behind and he just kind of fell awkwardly and stuff.

It wasn't scrambling into a linebacker and trying to hurdle an offensive lineman or something like that like he did in college. So yeah, the transition has been really good and a lot of the concerns people had have turned out to not be legitimate in the NFL. Well, and that's why in the NFL, I think they look at quarterbacks so much more of what's the guy's mentality

and what's his skillset. And let's not focus too much on college because I remember somebody pointing out, even with Drake May where he would have these route combinations from their offense where no routes would go over the middle of the field so he would be reading left and okay that's covered or a receiver falls down and it's not like he can work back to the middle of someone coming into his vision he's got to go all the way back to the other side of the field then there's pressure then he's scrambling andambling. And it's like, well, what was he doing there? He didn't read the field. Like, no, the play didn't really offer him what he needed there. And I think that a lot of those

stats that get thrown around or a lot of the critiques, you just don't really know how someone's going to fix it. And it even comes to that. If he played as reckless as he did Jaden Daniels in college, in the NFL, he would be on IR. I mean, you just, you can't go trying to jump over people. And like you said, cut back into the middle, you're just going to get destroyed. So he learned that he learned to get rid of the ball quicker. Uh, he learned when it's the right time to relieve the pocket and how to get rid of it. And I think also Cliff Kingsbury has done a phenomenal job at working with him and playing to a lot of his strengths where in college he was as almost flawless of a downfield passer that I can remember in college.

I mean, I don't know. The guy is just the matrix when it comes to putting the touch on the deep ball. So what they'll do is they'll throw a screen and a, and a slant and a swing pass to Austin Eckler. And they're like, okay, short, short. And then just,

here's a deep bomb. That is perfect. I feel like the synergy between Kingsbury and Daniels has been really something to watch. And if I'm cliff Kingsbury, I don't, don't call me about a head coaching job. If I was him, I would say, don't call me. I got my money from Arizona. I went to Shanghai or whatever for a couple of weeks, came back. I would want to be this man's offensive

coordinator and work together for a long time. Well, I think that's going to happen this off season. Uh, he he's, he did the, there was a big line that went around a few weeks ago. He was asked about it, whether he has ambitions to be a head coach again. And everyone picked up on the fact that he said, yeah, at some point. And everyone was like, okay, he wants to be head coach this year. And I read into it differently. He was saying, yeah, at some point. And the at some point was a key part of that.

I'm not in a rush. I think it's going to be very much a kind of Ben Johnson situation where he is happy to wait a year or to stick around with Jaden Daniels because he knows how good he is. And I think at this point, Kingsbury will have learned probably from Adam Peters and Dan Quinn that you wait for the right situation. You don't just jump at the first one. And, and, you know, Dan Quinn was that guy a few years ago, you know, he,

he left Seattle for, for Atlanta, uh, which was the, the first opportunity he got. Um, and you know, it went well to the start with, and then things crumbled and he went away and revised what what he was all about as a coach. And he learned the lesson that you don't just jump at the first one. You you you wait for the right one that works for you. And and Adam Peters did the same thing in San Francisco. He was the assistant GM in San Fran. He he helped John Elway build the Broncos team that won the Super Bowl.

He was in New England with the Patricos team that won the Super Bowl. He was in New England with the Patriots when they won the Super Bowl. So he has a lot of experience being around winning teams. And he probably could have been a GM for any team he wanted to for the last two or three years. But he waited for the right opportunity. And when Josh Harris bought Washington from Dan Snyder and, you know, giving a complete clean slate, I think both Adam Peters and Dan Quinn saw that this was the opportunity where it's going to be a good chance

to properly rebuild the thing the way they want to. It's a big franchise, historically speaking, and it's one of the pillars of the NFL and it's a big city in Washington and what have you. So there is a huge dormant Washington and what have you. So it, there, there is a huge dormant fan base waiting to come back to it. And we're starting to see that now. And I think Kingsbury will be learning that lesson from them that, you know,

he doesn't have to rush into anything. And none of these jobs in this cycle, I think were that appealing. I think the one that could have been appealing to him would have been the bears because of his link with Caleb Williams but you know how do you feel about Ryan Poles having been the GM there and being retained it's not going in with your guy and it could be a case of this time next year Ryan Poles gets fired and then are you involved in the GM search or do they bring a new GM that then wants their own head coach and that kind of thing.

So that wasn't necessarily an ideal situation either. And now the rest of the coaching jobs out there, do you want to go to the Jets where Woody Johnson is your owner or do you want to go to the Jags where they're keeping Trent Baalke? There's no ideal situation. So I think that's what Kingsbury is going to do. He's already said that he's not going to take any interviews during the playoffs. He was going to wait until Washington was knocked out.

And as long as Washington keeps winning, they probably improved their chances of keeping him this year. But I never thought it was realistic he was going to leave anyway um because there was just no ideal opportunity um this time next year that could be a very different question um but i i definitely don't think he's in a rush uh i think he's going to wait for the for the right job jacksonville would have made sense for a lot of people with trevor law, except for the fact that they were keeping Trent bulky, which that dynamic, I mean, it's really played well in the Vikings favor to have the GM and the head coach on the same contracts. So they're hired at the

same time. They're extended at the same time. And you two are both pulling this carriage together. When you have a GM and a coach who are not on the same timeline, I think it creates a lot of potential conflict. So that's a really good point. Uh, now with Daniels and where he stands, I think everybody would say, all right, well, Washington would be the franchise you would take first in an all franchise draft in the NFC because of what they have. I know this sounds crazy to you, but it's very true. Now what they have coaching leadership ownership, magic Johnson is somehow there. I mean, everything, everything is just in line now to go forward and keep doing this. It feels like a Buffalo situation when Alan got there or Baltimore with Jackson or, or my homes. That's what they have now. Uh, the one

advantage that Jade and Daniels had over the other quarterbacks or some of the other quarterbacks in the class was H and he played a lot more football than McCarthy, then Williams, and then Drake may, how much of a factor do you think that that has been in him stepping in right away in comparison to at least the other two quarterbacks struggled and obviously J.J. McCarthy has not stepped on the field yet. I think it definitely has played a big factor and they've talked about the fact that he had so much experience has really helped him be as calm and as poised as he is because there's no moment too big for him because he's played in big situations

and he has experienced multiple years. He's experienced the adversity of what happened at ASU before going to LSU. So he's had some down times and he's fought through them and he's learned while playing. And he has a ton of experience because of that um and that I think that can only really help you like yeah there is the the negative that you know if he plays well I don't know at the quarterback it's kind of different because a quarterback can can play a lot longer than an average player. Because I remember when Terry McLaurin was drafted from Washington,

the receiver, he was drafted at a similar age to Jaden Daniels. And, you know, he got his first contract extension, and now he's going into an offseason where he might be looking at his second contract extension, and he's already the wrong side of 30. And it'll be, do we really want to sign him up long term? How much longer has he got left sort of thing? And that's the disadvantage of drafting an older guy. the wrong side of 30 and it'll be, do we really want to sign him up long term? How much longer has he got left sort of thing. And that's the disadvantage of drafting an older guy.

But the advantage is that, especially with a quarterback position, is you've seen so much more when you played more that you are more ready. And especially, you know, the fact that he went to two different schools, he played in different systems. So he experienced learning a different system, more than just the one system, playing one year or two years and then heading to the NFL. He's experienced playing in different systems, learning what it's like to go from year one to year two in a system

and knowing, understanding how to learn a system, not just learning a single system. So, like, that all helps him. And obviously, as I say, I think the structure that they've put around him in Washington has been really, really good as well. You talked about Kingsbury. He's been obviously great as an offensive coordinator, but they have a whole staff there. They've got a ton of experience in that offensive staff.

They hired Brian Johnson from the Eagles. He was the offensive coordinator for the eagles last year um they managed to hire him as kind of a past game coordinator assistant head coach so that that's a good offensive mind in the room uh they got uh anthony lynn in from the chargers sorry not chargers was former head coach of the chargers in from the 49ers the last few years. And he's the run game coordinator. And obviously, Daniels is involved in the run game with his legs as well. They kept Davida Pritchard, the quarterbacks coach who was here last year. And he's got a really good reputation.

They hired David Blau, who was with the Lions as a quarterback last year. And Vikings. And Vikings. Yeah. And he's now very, very highly rated as a quarterback last year. And Vikings. And Vikings, yeah. And he's now very, very highly rated as a young quarterbacks coach, and I think he's the assistant quarterbacks coach. And there were some suggestions that some people might want to try to hire him away this offseason. I think Washington might have to try to bump up his title to keep him. But, yeah, they've surrounded him with a lot of good offensive minds.

And I think the one concern for me was they hired a bunch of good guys. None of them had ever really coached together before. And how do you get it to be a situation where they're all pulling in the right direction and none of them are kind of, it's not a too many cooks spoil the broth kind of situation. And I think that's a credit to where Dan Quinn's leadership comes in. I think it's a credit to Cliff Kingsbury for not having this ego of, I'm the offensive coordinator and my say is what goes and I'm not going to listen to anyone.

I think he's been really good at being open to ideas. And I think that's why you've seen a real adjustment in the offense from what he did in Arizona with the Cardinals to what he's doing now with Washington. There's a lot of his blind spots in Arizona have been not fixed necessarily, but he's improved a lot. And that comes from having all these different minds in the, in the meeting room and, and being able to cover more grounds, uh,

in preparation. So having that structure around the quarterback really helps, but, but having that experience that Daniel's had in college is, uh, is I think a huge benefit to, to being able to hit the ground running in your first year. I don't think it's necessarily,

uh, like do or die. Like you, if you don't have it, you're not going to be a successful quarterback. Um, but I, I think it's something that really helps you start fast. I didn't know there was a British version of too many cooks in the kitchen. That's, uh, that's, that's what we usually say. Yeah. Um, so I was thinking about this with Daniels and his experience and where J.J. McCarthy stands. Now, we did a long conversation right after McCarthy was drafted. You were one of the highest people on J.J. McCarthy in the draft, as you mentioned, that you briefly had him as QB too. And I actually published your tremendous film study on JJ McCarthy on purple insider. So that's a, that was over at the newsletter. Um, and you did a great breakdown of that missing this year and not playing much

college football, uh, has been my biggest concern, um, about them immediately turning to JJ McCarthy for this season, because we just talked about how much it helped Jaden Daniels to have all of those. You want an American saying that's really not great. It's the pelts on the wall is an American saying that is, I don't know if you guys use that one, but he's got a lot of pelts on the wall where he's just played a lot of football and he's been through a lot of football and he's been through a lot by the time he was thrown into this situation. So he's closer to physically ready to handle it and mentally and emotionally ready to handle it as someone in his mid twenties.

And not that I'm concerned about JJ McCarthy's mentality or anything like that. It's more just the amount of football that he's played and saying, all right, go play in the NFC North, my friend, the hardest division in football. That's where I hesitate a little bit about just saying, all right, get out of here, Sam Darnold, bring in JJ McCarthy. How do you feel about their decision and that dynamic involving McCarthy and the Vikings? I understand your concern. I personally would be more open to letting him play. And I think, yes, the health would be the number one concern. Obviously, he shouldn't be playing until he's 100% healthy

and that knee is fine. And he's put on all his weight again and he's ready to go. Obviously, that is the key. But if he's cleared medically, I'd be ready to put him out there personally. I think the year off wouldn't necessarily have been the worst thing in the world for him anyway. There was every chance that he was quite a raw prospect and there was every chance you wanted him to sit and learn anyway. And you see lots of quarterbacks that sit for a year or two years

benefit from doing that and learning how things are done the right way. But I think having had that kind of enforced year off, yes, he didn't have the practice reps, but he would have seen the success that Donald had. He would have learned the offense even more. And I think KOC is someone that sets the quarterback up for so much success and really tailors the game plan to the quarterback, I kind of back KOC to make him fine.

And you're going to have the rookie moments that they'll come. They all have them. Apart from, I guess, Jaden Daniels hasn't really had them, but they all will have them occasionally. But I'd be more than willing to put him out there as long as he's medically fine and he's able to have somewhat of an off-season. If it's like he's cleared week one

and he hasn't practiced all off-season, then obviously no. But if he's had a little bit of practice and he's up to speed, I would back KOC to be able to deliver a game plan that would work for him. Because, I mean, if we talked this time last year, how do you feel about Sam Donald being your starting quarterback next year? You would have said there's no chance that they would get to the playoffs and do as good a season as they have. So I think a lot of that goes to KOC and that offensive staff there,

and I would back them to get things right with JJ. And I think the reason that I had JJ McCarthy second at one point last year was kind of the mentality thing. I think he's a tremendous leader. You just saw that more outwardly from him. Jaden Daniels is naturally a more reserved personality. And I think behind the scenes, he's more outgoing with his teammates in the locker room. But he doesn't present as well to, I guess, to the media and stuff like that.

Whereas J.J. McCarthy is very much outwardly, you know, I'm the guy and I'm happy to tell you I'm the guy. And, you know, he projects it very well. And I think he, you know, the work he did at Michigan leading that team was phenomenal. And so I would think that the mentality he has, he would get himself right. And I think that the KOC is going to put an offense around him that will suit his skill set. I think that offense that the Vikings run naturally suits JJ's skill set anyway. So I thought it was a really, really good fit when they drafted him. And I think that will still be the case if he's healthy next year. Yeah. And he showed so much growth and development from the time that he got to Minnesota to the time that he was injured in terms of his throwing accuracy was improved greatly, which I, I'm sure that O'Connell and Josh McCown identified some things in his throwing motion in Michigan that could be corrected because this goes again to the there's college stats but who cares about them like he couldn't throw left or something and it was like well you know what i'm sure that they know what

the problem is there i don't think he'll just throw it into the stands every time he turns left i'm sure it's a footwork thing or whatever and when he was first getting to the offense and trying to understand the footwork he could not throw accurately at all. And then as camp went on, you really saw that come together, the work ethic, but the leadership element, the way people galvanize around him, all of those things you saw. And he was getting closer and closer to me feeling like he was going to be ready throughout the training camp. I think what it comes down to a lot is what you said is physically, is he able to be ready throughout the training camp. I think what it comes down to a lot is what you said is physically, is he able to be ready? And I know there's a long time, but it's like, it is. And it isn't right. I mean, uh, mini camp is only a few months away. Uh, and so can you come a far

away with that physical part of it? And if they do turn to him, I think that he, if he could pick up where he left off is ready to take over. I also would lean toward whatever Kevin O'Connell thinks. Like if Kevin O'Connell thinks that we're just not ready to do this yet and he wants to err on the side of caution because he is, he just turned two days ago, 22 years old. And so there is the big time rush from all Vikings fans to just move on from Darnold and get right to J.J. McCarthy. And I fully understand it. The way that the season ended, how it went down the last two weeks,

and that the prince who was promised is McCarthy. And I think I said at some point as I was watching them in camp, like, I think, I think McCarthy is trending toward maybe already being better than Darnold at a lot of things. And Darnold had this great season. So now that looks worse, but that's how it felt in camp where like reading the middle of the field and not hanging onto the ball too long, which has been a Sam Darnold trait since he's been into the league. Like McCarthy's very good at getting rid of the football. Uh, some of the playmaking and things like that, uh, you saw him get comfortable with it. So I think he was as impressive as you ever could have asked for. It's just the timing and what, and what that's going to be. Uh, let me

ask you a question that I can't stand during draft season. Just every time I hear it, it's just nails on the chalkboard, but I'll ask it to you anyway. What do you think JJ McCarthy's ceiling is? And can I just tell you when people talk about ceiling, it's like, well, Brock Purdy's ceiling was nothing, but then he landed in the right situation with the right coach and the right system and everything else. And then his ceiling was almost MVP and Superbowl winner. So that's why I can't stand it because your circumstance is also a lot of your ceiling, but throw that out because here's, I'm thinking

Jaden Daniels now is the gold standard in the NFC going forward and everybody else has got to try to chase that. So compare that for me with McCarthy. Yeah. So I mean, it's, it's a naturally tough question to answer, but I think, I think the way you've got to approach it is, um, he fits really well with what the Vikings want to do offensively and what KOC likes to do offensively. So I think KOC is going to be able to max out his skill set, and I think his skill set is going to max out what the Vikings offense is looking to do. And obviously a lot of the play action stuff and the throwing over the middle of the field stuff that they like to do, that all suits what he did really well

in college, and I think it's a really good marriage there. So I think if there's a place where he can reach his ceiling, whatever that ceiling is, I think it will be Minnesota with KOC. And I think that is quite a high ceiling. I just don't want to put the... He's a very different style of quarterback to Jaden Daniels. Now, he did have the mobility and some of the ability to create off script and stuff, but it's not the same way that Jaden Daniels does.

And it's not the same way that a Patrick Mahomes or a Josh Allen or a Lamar Jackson does. They're different type of players. What I think McCarthy can do is be so good on schedule. And I think you saw, I hesitate to throw this name out there, but Kirk Cousins, when he was on schedule, was excellent at maximizing what that offense could do. And when Kirk Cousins got hot, it was, you know, top 10, top five quarterback in the league kind of hot.

It just didn't always last for very long, and there was always a Kirk-esque mistake in there. I think J.J. McCarthy, his ceiling would be maxing out what that kind of best of Kirk was in that offense and doing it more consistently. That would be the ceiling. And I know people will kind of not like the comparison to Kirk because there's so much to go with Kirk.

I don't know how Viking fans view him, but I assume it's similar to how Washington fans now view him, which is you know he was decent at what he was asked to do and when he got hot he was good but there was too many limiting factors for him I think JJ doesn't have the limiting factors that Kurt did and I think he can do a little bit more off script he can do a little bit more with his legs and he has the upside of being able I think if you can coach a few things out of him, like you talk about with the footwork and stuff, I think you can get him to be more

consistently playing at the high level that Kirk got to when, when, when he was at his best. Um, I think that would be what I consider a ceiling, which I think is a very, very good NFL quarterback. I think with him, he, and, and yeah, with Kirk, the physical limitations, like I know that relative athletic scores are not perfect either, but Kirk's relative athletic score based on his combine was literally the least athletic quarterback in the whole league. I mean, just to just, other than Nick Foles, I think it was him and Nick Foles. And when Foles retired, it was Kirk.

And then a team paid him a hundred million with an Achilles tear to also still be the least athletic quarterback in the league. That's an odd decision, but, uh, you know, uh, for the Vikings, it was a good one, I guess they get the comp pick, but when it comes to that, uh, JJ McCarthy is far from the least athletic quarterback in the league. He's a great athlete. And he also, when he was growing up, he's like great at baseball and hockey and all these other things. And he has like a natural athleticism to him because of that. And a, and a natural playmakers mindset to him that even though Michigan would be like, let's just run every play because teams can't stop it. If they got in third and seven, or they said,

we need a final drive from you or something. JJ McCarthy was scrambling, making plays out of structure, dealing with pressure. And then we saw it even in camp practices, the more confident he got, the more he was like, okay,

I'm going to escape the pocket here. I know I'm supposed to stay in the pocket, but I'm going to escape. I'm going to try to make something happen. And there were a lot of wow plays, uh, as far as a ceiling goes, a lot of it does depend on his connection with Justin Jefferson and how the offense comes around together with him. The interior offensive line has just been a disaster the whole time I've covered the team. And, you know, there's a lot, there's a lot that goes into it, but the minute

that they turn the ball over to him, I think that he will be ready to be that guy. And then it depends on so many other things after that, if he stays healthy, how tough the division is, all those things. But, uh, whether it's this year or next year or week seven or whenever it is that he plays, uh, I think they saw enough from him last year to buy into having that rookie quarterback contract hack with him. Uh, so let me ask you one more question, Mark, do you think that the Washington sharks are going to be in the super bowl? Well, I, I think they've got a better chance than I thought they had in the first two playoff games but the first two playoff games I picked against them and they won both of them and I kind of don't

want to I'm not a very superstitious person but I know a lot of people are and I know if I go again I go yeah Washington's gonna win and they lose I will get blamed for that um so I I still when they played the Bucks in the first wildcard game I thought the Bucks would be favors and I kind of said it was kind of 60 40 in the Bucks favor and then when they played Detroit in Detroit I said said it was kind of 75-25 in Detroit's favor. And they came out of both of those and winning those. I think the Philly game is somewhere in between that. But I still give the edge to Philly. And I think when you get to this point in the playoffs, generally speaking, the team with the deepest overall roster is going to win out.

Now, that's not to say an X Factor that Jaden Daniels is can't go and win you a game a couple of those times. I think we've already kind of seen that. So there is a chance, and I think that's the great thing that Washington fans can hold on to is that Jaden Daniels now gives them a chance in every single game that they play um but we do have to remember this they had the second overall pick last year for a reason they were a terrible team uh Adam Peters the GM had the famous moment in his press introductory press conference he was asked about the state of the roster and he kind of paused for five seconds before answering um and that was a pretty big indicator that yeah

he didn't like this roster at all um and i think they had the biggest turnover in the league i think like of their final 53 like 33 of the players were new players um and i think it could well be like even less of that roster that was there that he inherited is going to be there next year so this roster is while they've been maximized and they've done really well this year and that's a huge credit to the coaching staff for doing that I think the talent there is still lacking and when you stack it up with the Eagles roster, like that is a stacked roster. And the great leveler is obviously the quarterback play and Jalen Hurts has struggled this year

and Jaden Daniels has been phenomenal. And so you can never say never, but I do still lean towards Philly winning this game. And unless, you know, Jaden Daniels pulls out another miracle win, I think it will be an Eagles win this week.

As much as that pains me to say. The biggest question I have is where is Jalen Hurts physically? Because he had a concussion two weeks before the end of the season, and then he had a clear knee injury in their game against the Rams. And he got tagged in that game by the Rams defensive line. And if Jaden Daniels, who didn't get anyone to

breathe on him against the lions and really, I mean, Tampa Bay chased him around, but they only got his towel as opposed to, uh, being able to take him down so i mean that the health factor here weighs into it philadelphia clearly the better team but it's one game and familiarity closes the gap i think when those uh in interdivision games he just played really well against this defense a few weeks ago so uh we will see i always like the idea of new teams going to the superbowl buffalo washington would really be something if that happens. Bullock's Film Room. It is markbullock, B-U-L-L-O-C-K dot substack dot com.

Just check it out to learn a lot about football, honestly. I mean, your knowledge, the X's and O's, the breakdowns. We only have an occasional time where it's, you know, Washington and Minnesota are crossing over, but you're always the guy that I want to go to, to have these conversations. So thanks for all the work you do. I get your emails all the time. And, uh, so if people want to check that out, they most certainly can.

And I just really appreciate you taking the time, man. And we'll see what happens in the NFC championship. You never know. They have a chance with, with Jane Daniels, they always have a chance. Thanks again, Mark. Yeah, thanks for having me.