00:00And once Kyler Murray was, we knew Joe going to be released out of Arizona, this fit just made too
00:11much sense to not happen.
00:12And it has happened.
00:14Kyler Murray is a Minnesota Viking.
00:16I think this is going to be a quarterback battle.
00:19I don't think either of these guys will be guaranteed the job.
00:23I think Kyler Murray is the favorite in this moment to win the job.
00:27What do you make of this situation here, though, Joe?
00:30Well, I mean, it's a significant upgrade from where McCarthy was.
00:33I mean, watching J.J. McCarthy throughout the regular season, Kevin, he was a deer in the headlights.
00:39I mean, you know, the good didn't outshine the bad.
00:44When he was bad, he was absolutely atrocious and terrible.
00:47And Minnesota can't go through another year with J.J. McCarthy, highs and lows.
00:52And do I love Kyler Murray?
00:54No.
00:54You know, I thought the talent was there for Arizona, at least offensively, to elevate, potentially, to be a 7
01:00or an 8 or a 9-win football team.
01:03They started 2-0 and all of a sudden fell off a cliff.
01:06If Kyler Murray was injured with the foot and never saw the football field again, they went with Jacoby Brissett.
01:13But if we're talking about getting the football down the field to Justin Jefferson, something that that team couldn't do
01:19at the end of the regular season,
01:21Kyler Murray gives that offense a much better shot to get the ball in the end zone with J.J.
01:27than 9 does.
01:29And that's just the bottom line, is that J.J. McCarthy's all talk.
01:33At least Kyler backs it up with some bright spots on the football field if he can stay motivated and
01:40he's mobile.
01:41I think he's the starter come week number one.
01:44Yeah, I tend to agree, Joe, because I was not enamored with McCarthy coming out of Michigan.
01:51And I think the fact that he tore his knee up, and it wasn't his first significant knee injury, was
01:56going to set him back some.
01:58And I think what McCarthy would likely need is a lot of time and reps.
02:04And I don't think he's going to be getting those because it's going to be split, right?
02:08I think Kyler, as you said, is the favorite.
02:10So those 50-50 splits might be 60-40 splits, Kyler's direction.
02:17And I think McCarthy will have a very difficult time trying to win back this locker room.
02:27We know that it's important, right, for quarterbacks to kind of, you know, be that front-facing guy.
02:33And the McCarthy stuff was, it was kind of gimmicky.
02:38It was almost like a comedy wrestler to me is how it landed, where the bean mugging and the gritties
02:47and the, you know, calling himself nine.
02:50It wasn't like cool.
02:53It was funny, right?
02:55Maybe a little endearing.
02:57I think that stuff now, when you're in a deep quarterback battle, you're favored to lose, might come off a
03:04bit ridiculous.
03:04And I'm not sure if McCarthy will even have the confidence to execute those things.
03:09I think it throws things off just entirely for J.J. McCarthy.
03:14But for Minnesota, Joe, I think one of the most under-the-radar things that happened last season,
03:24and I know that they played some bad teams along the way, but it wasn't all bad,
03:30is this team somehow, at 4-8, won five in a row to close the year, and won nine games
03:37last season.
03:39It's a pretty good argument that the combination of O'Connell and Flores,
03:46is top eight in the NFL, head coach, defensive coordinator, or, you know, both your play-caller combination,
03:55maybe the better way to put it, Joe, might be top five.
03:58I mean, some people would probably argue it's maybe the best in football.
04:03Depends who you are, right?
04:04But it's right up there.
04:06And Kyler Murray is someone who should now be playing for the best coach he's ever played for, I think.
04:15And Joe has to be the best wide receiver he's ever played with, right?
04:20In terms of, in his prime, Justin Jefferson?
04:23Yeah, and think about, you know, Kyler, because of his size,
04:26I think his downside is he retreats too much in the pocket, gives back way too much,
04:32and that's why a lot of his throws are underneath.
04:34And he made Trey McBride a star, right?
04:36One of the best tight ends, which just catches and elevated, obviously,
04:40as a 1,000-yard receiver last year with Jacoby Brissett.
04:43But that being said, Kevin, you're absolutely right, that Kyler's mobile.
04:48Can he be rejuvenated now with an offensive mind like Kevin O'Connell?
04:52He was there with Gannon, a defensive mind, right?
04:55So now he has the ability to maybe catch lightning in a bottle.
04:59And seeing what Sam Donald did with multiple teams now,
05:03hopefully Kyler Murray is motivated.
05:06But I'll just say this about J.J. McCarthy.
05:10The comp that I'll make to J.J. now, he's like Kenny Pickett.
05:13He's going to be a pedestrian backup for the rest of his career.
05:17I don't think he's, like, going to get a shot as a starter, you know, and he's young.
05:21But he's similar to Kenny Pickett, the one-hit wonder, got his one year to start,
05:26and now he's going to be a lifelong backup.
05:28So now he's going to be a pedestrian backup.
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