Bercich: Vikings Would Have Signed QB If They Didn't Believe In JJ McCarthy

Pete, how are you? I'm doing great. How are you? I'm excellent.

I appreciate the time. I guess the biggest question is, well, before we get there, what are your thoughts on Sam Darnold moving on and taking the job opportunity in Seattle? I think he's earned it. Obviously, he gave us a great year. If you rewind the clock to prior to the season starting, I think everybody or most people picked the Vikings to finish dead last in the division, and there are a lot of reasons for that and a lot of good ones. We had a lot of question marks with free agents that we signed and Jonathan Grenard and Andrew VanGinkle and Blake Cashman and what were we going to do a cornerback. And then the big one was a quarterback situation with Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy. I think because of all those question marks, people didn't expect much, and J.J. ends up hurting his knee in training camp and then it becomes Sam's team and he took control of it.

It's a true team effort. It's Darnold doing what he needs to do. Coach Kevin O'Connell, there's a guy who's played the position in the NFL, coached the position, was an offensive coordinator, now a head coach. He can get that position right, and it's the most important position in the NFL. The quarterback, if you don't have that one spot figured out, it's going to be problems, and I think the franchise is lucky, which is another big reason why they extended Coach O'Connell because of what he's been able to do. But for Sam, he had all the tools, he just had to put it all together and be in a good system. The result was over 4,000 yards of passing. The last two games of the year stick out in your head, the one in Detroit and then the playoff game.

But we can discuss those, and who is he really? I think the Seattle fans are going to be pleasantly surprised. They're paying him a lot of money, so they better not be surprised, but I think they're right to have high expectations because Quid's strong arm is very accurate. He's a good quarterback. Pete Bursich is here with us on the JR Sport Brief Show. You talk about J.J. McCarthy. We know he had the surgery in the summer, had another surgery. What's the latest that you've heard when it comes to J.J., his physical condition?

How's that going? Everything I've heard is he's got the green light and he's ready to start OTAs when they begin. I know the year before I retired, I had an ACL and the same injury where you tear away the disc of the meniscus in your knee. They've got to go in and reattach it and do that.

It's a tricky bit. I had to go back and get scoped to get it repaired. My point is, personally, I expected there to be some follow up and some other things as far as that goes. But they didn't remove the cartilage so you're not going to have a bone-on-bone situation there, so degeneration isn't going to be as much of a worry. But from a health standpoint, I think everybody's fired up and he's good to go from everything I've heard. Well Pete, we know with a lot of the quarterbacks off of the board, they've got to plug the hole for someone to work with him or at least back him up from a veteran's quarterback standpoint. What are your thoughts on the Vikings filling out that quarterback room?

Yeah, they're going to need to. I know that Daniel Jones was a big want going into the offseason as a backup. But I think they know that Daniel Jones, if he was going to be 100% a backup, that Minnesota would be a place that he'd like to be.

But he also sees the writing on the wall. He knows that it's McCarthy's team and that even if he does come in and play well, he's just one year away from going somewhere else. And I think he took an opportunity in Indianapolis where they have some questions about the current quarterback situation. So yeah, we have to find ourselves a good backup, no question about it.

We've seen two seasons ago when we lost Kirk Cousins and really what that did to us for the year. So, you know, they'll figure it's like with Kevin O'Connell, that's the one thing that's that's really great. You're like, you know, I'll figure it out. Well, you know, we'll find somebody. We'll figure out someone to get in there. You know, Nick Mullins, our other backup, he left to go to Jacksonville.

So, yeah, the covers are there. Well, when you talk about Kevin O'Connell, he has been known to be a quarterback whisperer for his time in Minnesota. You talk about the extension that he got. What separates him from a lot of these?

I get it. He played. He was a backup. But what separates him and the locker room and the messaging that he gets across to the players? He wants guys that want to be in Minnesota. He gives the players. I wouldn't want to say gives a lot of power to the players, but he lets them there.

It's their locker room. It's you know, he lets them take care of a lot of things. He puts that in their hands and gives them ownership.

So, you know, if you get the wrong guy in there, a bad guy or a guy that doesn't fit can abuse a system like that. And so that's why they're very careful about who they're bringing in and someone that shares the same kind of vision that Kevin O'Connell has. And I think his ability to be the head coach and the play caller, to be the one that's calling in the plays and talking to the quarterback, talking them through. You know, you listen to some of the video or some of the NFL films of him being on with the quarterbacks and telling them all these little things. And he's really managing the game and trying to manage the emotions of the quarterback as well.

So I think that's where he's done such a good job and that's, I think, what makes him different. Pete Bursage is here with us on the JR sport reshow, played for the Vikings, helped coach on the Vikings, now an analyst for the Vikings. There's so much attention paid to the offense last year because of the surprise, even that you had mentioned, of the success that they had. The defense was pretty good itself, finishing fifth in points allowed, less than 20 points a game. And they've kind of readjusted things on the defensive line today, bringing in Javon Hargrave, also Jonathan Allen. Speak to the changes that we should expect in the trenches, also picking up someone like Will Fries.

Yeah, I mean, that's a big deal. And I've said it the last couple of years, where if you're a defensive lineman, you know, Brian Flores is a great scheme to play in. Because he has the ability within a system to walk so many people up on the line of scrimmage that you're not going to get double teamed a ton. This is not a old school, you know, true 3-4-2 gap where the D linemen trying to take up two linemen or take up two gaps and let the linebackers kind of run free. I mean, this is, there's a lot of one-on-one blocking. And any D linemen that can consistently win one-on-one, I would think, would love this system. But to get to, you know, Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, and you get them in there with Jonathan Granard and Andrew Van Ginkel, who, by the way, those two play the run very, very well on the outside.

They're not the biggest guys in the world, but man, they play the run as outside linebackers extremely well. And now you're going to get some help in the interior, which is going to help with the back end of that defense. I mean, it was great, you know, to get guys back.

We lost Cam Bynum, right? But, you know, it's just, it's good to keep someone like Byron Murphy around who's used to the system. Some of the unique things that they do with corners dropping into the deep half and, you know, nothing too complicated from a coverage standpoint, just moving, you know, moving the shell game around and guys being in different spots. So Byron Murphy coming back is a big deal. But, you know, we've got, I think we've got some more bodies to put in the back end of the defense. Well, Pete, you think about what the team did as a whole last year, surprising everybody in the NFC North with an opportunity to win it. We see with the Chicago Bears, you talk about offensive line, we've seen what they've done to fortify their line with their new head coach. I don't think the Lions are going anywhere. All things considered, it looks like JJ McCarthy is going to get some starts.

We've never seen him throw a pass in the NFL. Is it not realistic to look at the Vikings and expect for them to take a step back in that packed NFC North? Yeah, I don't disagree with you on that.

I really don't. I mean, you have, you know, you have a rookie quarterback. Technically, he's a second year guy, but to do, to take a step back from 14 and three, I don't think it's catastrophic.

I think walking into the season expecting 14 and three again is going to be tough. The Bears have gotten a lot better and they've gotten a lot better in the middle of that offensive line where they needed to. Green Bay signed a guard and free agency from San Francisco. You know, there's only eight guards in the entire NFC North and half of them have been replaced. So you get two new ones in Chicago, one new one in Green Bay and then a new one in Minnesota. So I think all the teams in, you know, with JRE going to Detroit, so, you know, you're in a JJ going against him twice a year. Well, you know, they all kind of made some moves to get better. And so I look at it that way and say, you know, being third in the NFC North again, it might get you into the playoffs.

It might get you a wildcard berth. But yeah, with the young quarterback, you have to temper that unless our defense can absolutely take it to the next level. And, you know, they led the league in turnovers a year ago. It's hard to ask much more of them than that. But a little better run game, a little better defense that helps the young quarterback. So we'll see.

Oh, Pete, final question. We talked about the health of JJ McCarthy. Well, we haven't seen him throw a pass. And realistically, when he was winning a championship in Michigan, he wasn't asked to go out there and air the ball up. When you think about having Addison out there, as well as Jefferson and Hockinson, you would think that he's going to be tasked with throwing that rock. What are your thoughts on on his transition? We haven't seen him.

He's a great mystery. It's true. Trust me, Kevin O'Connell is going to throw the football. You're not going to be quarterback in Minnesota, not be throwing the football 30 sometimes a game.

Yeah, there are there are a lot of question marks. And, you know, again, I think that had they seen any issues or glaring issues with his game, the few weeks of training camp that they got to work with them, they would have had a different path this offseason. I think they would have done some different things to to keep Sam Darnall around if they could have.

But I think they've seen enough out of them. And, yeah, he was not he was not in a pass heavy offense up in Michigan. But I think, again, with with Kevin O'Connell, the main thing with him, he emphasizes the footwork and the fundamentals, so much of the position and how important that is. And you get a young, talented quarterback to be able to work with that.

I think, you know, you're going to be OK. And I think the one question that you don't have with JJ's character, his ability to lead. And, you know, like Belichick said, the talent sets the floor and character sets the ceiling. I mean, he's a high character guy.

He's a leader. I mean, I've heard from a number of players that the kid just has that it factor. And hopefully that'll all, you know, that'll all translate.

And they were right about Donald. And, you know, so, yeah, just go, I guess, kind of go with it and say, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and let's roll with JJ. And we'll see how this bears out when he starts in September. It's going to be a it's going to be a fun adventure.

We got to see who's in the quarterback room with him first. So, yeah, that's very, very, very true. A couple more things to figure out with Minnesota. Well, Pete, thank you so much for the time. It's just a cool career. You played, you coached.

There's no chance that you go back out there and hit anybody again, right? Them days are over. With the way that I was a special teams most, I played mostly special teams and the way they've changed them. Now, I might actually have a few plays, a few plays left to me. So I'm I'll give you I'm 50, I'll be I'm 53. This is going to be my 30th year already with the team.

Wow. You know, it's like it's crazy. More than half my life has been has been with the Vikings in one capacity or another. They keep firing me in one way and then I keep coming back. You know, I got done playing, I coached and when they fired Mike Tyson, all of us and I came back to start doing the announcing. So, yeah, I don't like to say I've been around that long because then people start looking at you like, oh, you're the next one. You've been around. It has been around a little bit too long, hasn't it? You know, but yeah, it's it's been my God for NFC championships.

Lost them all played and to call to more. I mean, we you know, we're the winningest team without a Super Bowl championship in their respective sport. And it's been you know, there's always that in the back of your head as a Vikings fan. And that's why I think the fan base is so excited to get new life in that quarterback position with JJ McCarthy.

And, you know, he's got he's got his work cut out for him because the expectations, I think, are very, very high. Well, it's certainly a supportive fan base in the process, so that will certainly help. Hey, Pete, where can people follow you and all of your work, even when you put the headset down to crack a few skulls before you go back upstairs? Fill us in. Yeah, I got I I have a Twitter account. It's just at Pete Burcich on Twitter. B E R C I C H. So you can follow me there. Stick to the Vikings, mostly just, you know, pretty much football I'm working on. You can go to the you know, the Vikings, the Vikings website on the on the NFL Network and find different videos, do coaches film and video, you know, video breakdowns of players and stuff. So you can find out through the Vikings app if you want. Oh, absolutely.

Well, Pete, thank you so much for the time. We'll catch you on down the line. Maybe when we find out who the QB is or maybe when JJ is actually thrown. So we'll catch you soon. Or you can just call me when you need a segment to kill. Hey, well, listen, we don't talk about the Vikings. No, the Vikings will give us plenty to talk about. We'll talk to you soon. OK. All right, man. Take care of things.