Packers Fans Will Love Embarrassing J.J. McCarthy Report from Vikings OTAs

The Green Bay Packers will start the 2024 NFL season with the goal of making another deep postseason run. In order to repeat last season's success, the Packers need to overcome their NFC North rivals who made significant moves in the offseason.

The Chicago Bears have understandably received most of the attention in the division, thanks to their additions of Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze while also bolstering their offensive unit with Keenan Allen and D'Andre Swift.

The Minnesota Vikings got some attention when they signed Aaron Jones once the Packers released him but the rest of their offseason left plenty to be desired for their fans. Their quarterback situation seems especially bleak, and the latest report out of their organized team activities isn't necessarily changing that narrative.

After losing Kirk Cousins in free agency, the Vikings replaced him with Sam Darnold, and by drafting J.J. McCarthy with their tenth-overall pick. Who will be their starter in Week 1 remains to be seen, but the scouting report for McCarthy demonstrates how far the Michigan product may be.

According to SI's Will Ragatz, the Vikings are reworking McCarthy's mechanics. Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said that they spent the OTAs trying to tweak McCarthy's stance out of the shotgun.

"We've got him with the left foot up stance, which is a little different for him. So just kind of adjusting how you're used to standing in the gun, with your left foot up or if you're used to more of a square stance or some people are right foot up. "

- Vikings OC Wes Phillips

Even though Phillips added that the former Wolverine has looked good trying to make changes to his game, the fact that Minnesota felt an immediate need to rework his mechanics is not a good sign for where McCarthy is.

The closing paragraph of Ragatz's piece paints an even bleaker picture.

"McCarthy has a long ways to go in his development. There's work to be done on his footwork and lower-body mechanics, his upper-body mechanics, his ability to read NFL defenses, his command of the playbook, the consistency of his accuracy, and everything else you can imagine"

What this sounds like is that it will be a three-team race at the top of the NFC North. Division odds on FanDuel Sportsbook also reflect that. The Lions, Packers, and Bears have +145, +185, and +320 odds to win respectively, while Minnesota lags far behind at +900.

More Packers news and rumors:

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.