QB · MIN · GWTTKB

J.J. McCarthy — fantasy football 2026

Every game, every stat category, and what the board says. 12.54 points per game in 2025, an ADP of 196.9, usage worth 14.3.

23 years old · 2 seasons of experience · 2024 draft class

Updated 2026-08-16 · free, no account, no paywall
Every figure below comes from our database. Where a stat is not held, the row is absent rather than zero.
ADP 196.9
Consensus across 2 books, standard deviation 38.6, 54.6 picks between cheapest and priciest. Cheapest on sleeper, priciest on espn.
SLEEPER224.2
ESPN169.6
UNDERDOG215.9
FFA527

Draft-room facts

Goes aroundRound 17, pick 5 in a 12-team draft
Positional rankQB68
ADP standard deviation38.6 picks

The offense he plays in, 2026

Minnesota Vikings returns 5 of 6 continuity slots, replacing qb1. Kyler Murray at quarterback, Kevin O'Connell as head coach, Wes Phillips calling it. The offense projects to 32.6 pass attempts a game at medium confidence and 25 rushes.

In: Kyler Murray (qb), Dontae Fleming (wr5), Dillon Bell (wr7), Desmond Claiborne (rb3). Out: Carson Wentz (qb), Jalen Nailor (wr3), Adam Thielen (wr4).

The projected target split across the offense:

Justin Jefferson26.5%
Jordan Addison18.3%
TJ Hockenson16.6%
Aaron Jones9.8%
Tai Felton7.7%
Jordan Mason5.6%

Our written view on this offense in 2026

What the offense looks like: Jefferson and Addison have all the talent in the world they & KOC is an elite coach, but this team needs to feed them. This RB room struggled last year. Difficult to say if Aaron Jones & Jordan mason regressed or if teams just focused on stopping the run to force JJ McCarthy to throw them another Pick 6. Either way, running game has to get established in 2026. Likely a committee as Aaron Jones was expected to be cut but took a pay cut to come back.

Key additions: Kyler Murray QB from Cardinals (former 1st overall pick).

Key departures: Jalen Nailor WR3 left to Raiders in free agency. Pretty solid loss that opens up a decent target

Notes: Jefferson dynasty cornerstone regardless of QB. Vikings sign Kyler Murray from Cardinals who is looking to turn around career. Kyler will compete with McCarthy for QB1 spot but JJ Nine McCarthy is BOOTY CHEEKS, so Kyler will start & could elevate offense a lot. Jefferson long term value there regardless of QB, Addison is great WR but volume still isnt there, interesting buy if can get him for cheap. Aaron Jones may phase out and took a pay cut to stay. Mason is mid. Rookie RB Claiborne COULD build out a role if he can beat out Mason. Hockenson should be better than last year but his play has declined a lot.

How the volume number was reached: New QB Kyler Murray, avg 32 att/g over 2025,2024; Regressed 42% toward league mean 33.5, floored at 30 → 32.6 att/g.

How the quarterback projection was built

Base case 204.1 PPR points, with a bear case of 29.5 and a bull case of 341.9, and a comp mean of 203.2. The model puts 25% probability on him beating this and 75% on falling short. Drawn from 20 comparable quarterback seasons.

Comparable seasonWhat he actually scoredDistance
Kyler Murray 202477.80
Kyler Murray 2019378.70.2
Dak Prescott 2018337.80.3
Blake Bortles 2017173.20.5
Jameis Winston 2015256.10.5

Cross-check against the dynasty market: his production ranks in the 28th percentile and his value in the 41th, which the engine reads as above production. Players with a similar production-against-value gap saw dynasty value move -19.6% over the following year, across 24 cases — a dynasty signal, not a 2026 scoring one.

Offensive environment: MIN rates 22.2 against a league average of 23, 0.8 below it on opponent-adjusted least squares (multi-capture merge).

2026 schedule

Opponent-adjusted pass defense faced, against 2025 ratings. Positive is an easier slate.

Full season+2.7 · easier
Weeks 1–6+3.1 · easier
Weeks 12–17+3.6 · easier
Fantasy playoffs (15–17)+12.3 · easier

Read this narrowly. Our own testing found that season-long strength of schedule does not survive as a draft input — defensive quality is among the least stable team properties year to year, and a preseason slate is built on last year's identities. The playoff-weeks column is the only one we would let break a tie, and even then it is a tiebreaker rather than a reason. The finding.

What happened when he missed time

From the absence record rather than a depth chart — who actually gained when he was out.

SeasonGames missedMain beneficiaryTheir PPR gain
20255Max Brosmer+-0.6

Dynasty context not redraft

Everything in this section is about his dynasty trade value — what he is worth as a long-term asset in the trade market. It is not a forecast of his 2026 fantasy scoring. A player can be a fine redraft pick while his dynasty value falls, and the reverse. The redraft read is above; this is a different question with a different answer.

Where he sits in the dynasty value cycle

His dynasty value has moved -53.6% over the last twelve months. The market cycle classifies him as post-crash. The base rate that applies: after a -25% crash, QBs recover only 30% of the time (keep falling 70%).

For context on how long this lasts at the position: the average career at his position produces 2.8 elite seasons and 3.1 startable seasons.

The five most similar seasons, and what their dynasty value did next

Matched on production profile — blended production + pedigree. The last column is how that player’s dynasty value moved the following year — a market outcome, not a scoring one.

PlayerSeasonTheir PPGSimilarityNext year
Tua Tagovailoa202013.580%-1%
Tua Tagovailoa202113.978%+18.6%
Kenny Pickett202211.576%-27.7%
Daniel Jones202012.976%-9.7%
Bryce Young202413.974%-0.9%

Of the 5 with a following season on record, 1 gained value, 2 lost it and 2 held roughly flat.

Four years of dynasty value

02,0004,0006,00020252026
Monthly superflex value, 2024-03 to 2026-07. Down 36% across the series, peaking at 5,626.

The player

Draft capital and athletic profile

Drafted2024, round 1, pick 10 by MIN
CollegeMichigan
Age at draft21
Height6′3″
Weight219 lb
3-cone6.82s
Shuttle4.23s

The record, season by season

2025 · MIN · 10 games

His best game was Week 15 against DAL — 23.5 PPR on 0 targets and a 0% target share, in a game that finished 34-26. His worst was Week 12 against GB at 0.48, on 0 targets, final score 6-23. Across 10 games he cleared 20 points 3 times and came in under 8 points 4 times. In the 6 games decided by 8 points or fewer he averaged 15.6; in the 4 decided by more, 7.9. He scored more when the game was live.

Earned against scored

His usage that season was worth 14.3 points per game. He scored 12.54, 12.1% below it. The engine classified the season as unlucky.

WkOppScorePPRYdsCarRushTDTgt%Snap%
1CHI27-2422.22022530%100%
2ATL6-222.82052500%100%
9DET27-2418.92091230%100%
10BAL19-2714.72054810%100%
11CHI17-19600010%100%
12GB6-230.48021000%100%
14WAS31-020.42061930%100%
15DAL34-2623.5041530%100%
16NYG16-138.32022010%52%
18GB16-37.9802700%64%

Production

Carries37
Rushing yards181
Touchdowns15
Points per game12.54
Yards per carry4.89

Role

Snap share91.6%
Target share0%
Air-yards share0%

Efficiency

Receiving EPA per game0
Rushing EPA per game0.68

Scoring position

Red-zone targets0
Red-zone target share0%
End-zone target share0%
Red-zone carry share10.5%
Goal-line carry share6.7%
Expected receiving TDs0
Actual receiving TDs0
Receiving TD luck0
Expected rushing TDs0.89

Who else ate

The offense threw it 484 times. 2 team-mates cleared the competing-target threshold.

Justin Jefferson30.26%
Jordan Addison16.95%
T.J. Hockenson14.16%
Jalen Nailor11.37%
Aaron Jones8.8%
Josh Oliver4.08%

Blowouts against close games

2 of his 10 games were blowouts, 16.7% of his snaps coming in them. He averaged 10.45 in those and 15.61 in close games — his scoring did not depend on garbage time.

Ask the Coach about J.J. McCarthy →
All player profiles · 2026 rankings · Research findings · Methodology
GWTTKB publishes research and education. Nothing here is betting advice.