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Welcome back into HQ. So, we have known for months now that things would be interesting for the Vikings over the summer, especially when it comes to the quarterback position. You have JJ McCarthy, who they drafted 10th overall back in 2024, missed his rookie season with an injury and has since not really lived up to expectations. Then, come March, the Vikings went out inside. Now, former Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. So, the two have been trying to buy for that number one spot as OTAAS are underway. Here's how J.J. McCarthy described their relationship with Kyler Murray and the competition. It's just
like two guys in a classroom. He sits on one side, I sit on the other, and it's the coach's responsibility to teach us and coach us. Let's welcome in Danny Canel to talk about some of the news we've got going on around the NFL, including this. So, kind of an interesting quote. I mean, I don't know if it's too dramatic. Then you have Kyler Murray who's saying, "It's great. I love being a veteran. I love teaching him. I don't necessarily feel like a veteran, but I am. How are you making out this competition so far?
I think JJ McCarthy has read the writing on the wall and knows that his days are numbered in Minnesota and I don't think he's thrilled about it. Then you've got Kyler Murray on the other hand who's seem given a second life in his career and he's got a team that wants him to come in there and change it. And Amanda, I will say this, the quarterback room is a very special, sacred place. And I've been in good, healthy quarterback rooms. And I've been in some that are a little bit contentious, dysfunctional, and a lot more competitive. It can make your life a lot better in some circumstance if it's healthy, or it can make it a little bit miserable. Sometimes it might not affect anything at all. But I do
think this is a reflection of JJ McCarthy being a little bit immature. He's still younger. He's still somebody who probably thought this team was going to be his and he was going to be the future franchise quarterback and now is struggling with the reality that they've brought somebody else in there to take his job. And I get that. But at some point, you do have to be the grown adult in this one and realize this is a professional business and that you have to do your best. You have to compete. And why not watch Kyler Murray and see what he's done? Kyler Murray is right. He has played a lot of football, but you do want to see somebody who's been there and played a lot more games
than you have. And it's not to say you can't challenge him and try to push him in his job, but I do think this makes for a very unique situation. Something to keep an eye on to see if there's any issues. I don't think there will be, but I don't think it's a dynamic that I would love. I mean, I always had pretty healthy quarterback rooms, whether I was the starter or the backup. You kind of have to know your role in that situation. You said his days were numbered in Minnesota. That quarterback room also has Carson Wentz in it. So, are you thinking that they completely move on from him?
Yeah, I it's they're they would love to get something in return, right? But I think everybody knows the situation. So maybe he gets another year, but I don't think you'll see JJ McCarthy as the long-term answer. I thought it was a reach when they selected him in the NFL draft where they did in the first round. I never saw him as being a guy that would be a franchise quarterback. At Michigan, everything was perfect around him. You had great talent. You weren't ever really asked to elevate your team and put it on your back. He only had a couple games where he threw more than 300 yards. In the NFL, you have to be the guy that carries your team every single week. and some of the college rah
rah stuff, it just doesn't work in the NFL. And I think you saw that from some of his teammates reaction in the locker room, looking at him a little bit like, wait, this isn't college anymore. This is the NFL. You need to step up and be a professional. And I do worry about his skill set translating as the answer for any franchise. So, I think the Vikings probably realize this. That's why they brought in Kyler Murray. And I think JJ McCarthy is probably struggling to deal with it right now. All right, let's go to another quarterback situation. And we're going to talk about the Eagles and Jaylen Herz who is yet dealing with another offensive coordinator. He has had so many uh and he did have this to say. He goes, "Look, my process hasn't changed
since college. I learn as much as I can. I build with the coach, see what his direction is and the direction he wants to go in and ask the right questions." Um I mean, from a quarterback perspective though, Danny, how difficult is it to try to keep learning all of these different offenses? I the best way to equate it and I've tried to tell different people this and you've heard other people say this too. It's like learning a new language when you learn a new system. And so you never really become fluent in that language. Like if anybody ever tells you how to learn Spanish, you go immerse yourself in the culture. Or if you want to learn
Mandarin, you immerse yourself in a culture. And it's impossible to do that just when you start becoming a little bit comfortable and you can speak a little bit in that language where all of a sudden you're learning an entirely new one. But I do think there has to be some continuity in Philadelphia with some of the terminology. I know there's new pieces, but I'm sure they've worked with Jaylen to try to make that transition easier and try to use some of the similar language pieces, but to me, I do think it is pretty remarkable that Jaylen Herz has had as much success as he's had in college and in the NFL to be a Super Bowl champion with these types of challenges. I think speaks volumes
about his work ethic and his ability to kind of make things work. But I also think it's what's held him back from breaking into that top five quarterback stratosphere where you're constantly kind of having to think so much. You can't just go out there and let your skill set take over. How much does it hold the offense back? I think it does. Absolutely. Like has it made a difference in some of these games where people are getting to it? Definitely. And you heard Jaylen Herz last year take some criticism because of his play and I would imagine he goes in there and tries to make his case. But if
if you don't have that trust relationship built over time with offensive coordinators that you've worked with for two and three and four years, that can become a friction point by everything you hear coming out of Philadelphia. There has been friction between Jaylen Herz at times with some of his offensive play callers where he wants a certain thing, the coordinator wants another one. If you have years of trust built up, that's not a big deal. But if you don't have that trust built up, then it just there's a fraction there in the relationship and then it can actually impact outcome and how you're able to execute the offense, which I think has been the case for Jaylen, especially last year.
We're going to go to a rookie quarterback and forgive me because I feel like the draft was a zillion years ago. What was your read on Drew Aller when he was coming out? Oh my goodness. So, I was on a live show in uh in Pittsburgh, okay, at a Steelers bar and the whole crowd is celebrating. They're cheering. They're absolutely going. They loved it. I hated it because I thought it was a reach and I at there was I think Drew Aller is somebody who has such tantalizing skills. He's 6'5. He's 235. He's big. He's physical. But you never saw him develop and take that next step as a player. I picked Penn State to win the national championship a year ago going
into his last season because I thought he would take that next step. I got fooled. He never did. James Franklin tried to get him different coordinators, tried to get him different wide receivers. it to me it wasn't anything mechanical and there wasn't anything with the system. It was more to do about Drew Aller. He was so conservative and became a little bit of a checkown Charlie and he always had really good touchdown to interception ratio because he made those good decisions with the football. But ultimately on the biggest stages when you're playing against the Ohio States and you're playing against the Oregon he did struggle to step up and make those plays which is something that concerns me massively in the NFL at
the next level. It's way easier to dial a guy back like Josh Allen. remember his knock coming out of Wyoming. It was too many turnovers. Not accurate, right? And he was too, he was too, you know, he would try to make these big plays. It's easier to dial that back than it is to try to coax somebody into saying, "We need you to make more plays. We need to get the ball down the field more." So, I didn't love it for the Steelers. I So, Ben Rothosberger apparently agrees with you. He was talking about it on podcast saying, "I'm a little concerned." Do you think it's interesting though for Big Ben to speak out like that? I do. I thought that part was a little interesting.
Yeah, but I mean I he's he's got his opinion like and there was a reason because there at one time Drew Aller was projected to be a top 15 pick because of the skill set because of the size and the stature, but if you go watch the film, it just didn't match up. And so I'm sure Ben Rothosberger has watched a lot of tape on Derer now and gone back and seen it and probably seen some of those deficiencies as well where I think he looks at and says this is somebody who has to take a massive step forward on the field in order to be the franchise quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And if you're a fourthrounder ultimately it would be more surprising if he does play himself into that role
than it would be if he's more of a career backup type of guy. That's what happens to most uh most fourth rounders or they end up on television one day analyzing guys like me. The good news for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they've about a year to figure it out with Aaron Rogers and Mike McCarthy there. Aaron Rogers announcing this is in fact his final year in the NFL. Okay, so upcoming dates, things are going to start moving very quickly. Mandatory mini camp is just around the corner. You have that deadline for franchise tag players to sign their extensions in the middle of July and then the regular season kickoff coming up September 9th.
