28. JJ McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
Don’t look now, but JJ McCarthy has stacked a couple of strong performances together here in the past couple of weeks. The Minnesota Vikings have now won two games in a row, and McCarthy might be beginning to turn a small corner here.
The Vikings have three games left, so the second-year QB but de-facto rookie doesn’t have a ton of time left to put good football on tape, but the arrow is pointing up, even if it’s just a little bit. The Vikings have really regressed this year after a breakout season with Sam Darnold in 2024.
The front office drafted McCarthy with the idea that he was going to takeover as their long-term starter, but a missed rookie season and struggles to begin 2025 have made things very difficult for the Vikings.
If nothing else, these past two starts have been great and could be a sign of things to come. The second-year passer from Michigan simply has to stay healthy now, and perhaps with a full offseason as the unquestioned starter, he could break out a bit in year three.
27. Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans
For the first time in his NFL career, Cam Ward had a passer rating of at least 100, and he took zero sacks. This was an encouraging start for Ward, who has otherwise had a pretty brutal season. He has shown flashes of being great, but the Tennessee Titans are simply so bad around him that it’s been hard for Ward to get much of anything going.
The Titans should be aggressive next offseason in adding talent around Ward to at least get a little bit better of a reading on his true ceiling. We are probably looking at the 2027 NFL Season as when he could truly put it all together, but overall, Ward has done what he can do given the situation.
He’s now no. 27 in our updated QB rankings. Is the arrow pointing up for Ward?