Jim Souhan: Vikings need J.J. McCarthy, Jordan Addison to live up to first-round billing

Jim Souhan, Star Tribune on Jan 16, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MINNEAPOLIS — Jordan Addison is so misunderstood.

Here’s this diligent young athlete, rising before the sun in Florida just weeks after his season ended, getting arrested at 3:45 a.m. and charged with trespassing, when we can all be sure he was so eager to work out that he just searching for an open gym.

That’s dedication.

And this column is dedicated to two Vikings who should probably spend the entire winter rising before dawn, but maybe not in a way that attracts the attention of the police.

The Vikings want to bring in a quarterback to challenge McCarthy?

Makes sense.

Just make sure he’s a former first-round draft pick.

We all love an underdog story, and the NFL has given us many over the decades.

In the modern NFL, where teams overvalue talented college quarterbacks and overreach during the draft, you’d better not settle for cubic zirconia.

Take this season’s NFL playoffs.

There are eight teams remaining. Seven are quarterbacked by former first-round draft picks. Three are quarterbacked by players taken in the same first round as McCarthy.

Read ’em and weep, if your team doesn’t have an established quarterback who is a former first-rounder:

Josh Allen. Drake Maye. Bo Nix. Sam Darnold. C.J. Stroud. Caleb Williams. Matthew Stafford.

The only quarterback among the final eight teams who wasn’t selected in the first round was the San Francisco 49ers’ Brock Purdy, a former Iowa State standout who was the last player selected in the 2022 NFL draft.

Now let’s look at the six teams that made the playoffs and were eliminated in the first round. Five of the six were quarterbacked by a first-round draft pick. The exception: The Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts, who was a second-round pick.

This glut of playoff first-rounders is occurring even with former first-rounders Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and Jared Goff missing the postseason, and McCarthy, Jayden Daniels and Daniel Jones dealing with injuries that probably kept their teams out of the playoffs.

The top six quarterbacks in the first round of the playoffs in terms of quarterback rating were first-rounders. The top five in terms of QBR were first-rounders. The MVP award is about to go to a former first-round quarterback for the eighth straight season.

Celebrate the underdog. Draft the purebred.

What’s clear is that the Vikings need to reach a verdict on McCarthy in the next 12 months, because if he’s not the answer, the answer will probably be found in the first round in 2027.

Speaking of former first-round draft picks, Addison is in trouble again.

The Vikings wide receiver has had three troubling encounters with law enforcement since he was drafted in 2023. He also missed a practice in London this season because he slept in, which is quite an accomplishment when you’re at a team hotel and surrounded by teammates, coaches and officials.

Addison’s latest arrest is troubling. Combined with his three-game suspension this season and his seven dropped passes and general lack of productivity, this could cost him a lot of money while damaging the Vikings’ draft record.

If the Vikings decide not to give Addison a second long-term contract, their first-round draft picks under general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell (who was known to be a proponent of Addison’s) would look like this:

— 2022: Trade down, avoid taking safety Kyle Hamilton and wide receiver Jameson Williams and select safety Lewis Cine, who was a bust.

— 2023: Addison, a good-not-great player who might be more trouble than he’s worth.

— 2024: McCarthy and edge rusher Dallas Turner. There remains realistic hope that McCarthy will be a quality player. Turner showed dramatic growth in his second season but is far from a star.

— 2025: Donovan Jackson. A quality guard who played much of the season with a wrist injury, earning him immense credibility among his teammates.

McCarthy, Turner and Addison could make Adofo-Mensah look quite good, or quite bad, depending on how they play (and whether Addison avoids another suspension) in 2026.