Jim Harbaugh compares Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy to Chargers’ Justin Herbert

Jim Harbaugh compares Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy to Chargers’ Justin Herbert

Harbaugh may be a bit biased, but he thinks Minnesota has a great one on its hands.

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh has been around some great quarterbacks in his coaching career, dating back to his time coaching Andrew Luck at Stanford. Most recently, he coached J.J. McCarthy for three years at Michigan before taking the Chargers job and working with Justin Herbert last year.

On Tuesday, in an interview with NFL on NBC, Harbaugh said his two most recent starting quarterbacks have a lot in common with one another.

“He’s so much like Justin Herbert in the energy they bring, the tone-setters,” Harbaugh said of McCarthy. “J.J.’s a tone-setter, brings the energy, great talent, and every fiber of his being is about helping his team. Justin is a perfectionist as well, him and J.J. are a lot the same in that way. They want to be good, they want to be great, and it’s not in a self-promotion way, like they want to be great for themselves. They want to be great for their teammates.”

Harbaugh may be a bit biased, but he’s a big believer in McCarthy as a person and as a quarterback. He said numerous times last year that McCarthy was the best QB in the 2024 draft, and then noted that he landed in the perfect spot when he was drafted tenth overall by Minnesota.

Playing quarterback in the NFL is obviously largely about the physical and mental execution, but McCarthy also seems to have the intangible elements down in spades. Everything we’ve heard about him from Harbaugh, Kevin O’Connell, and others is that he’s a relentless worker and a natural leader. Similar things have been said about Herbert, the former Rookie of the Year and Pro Bowler who finished eighth in MVP voting last season.

McCarthy, who is reportedly doing well in his recovery from the August meniscus injury that cost him his rookie season, is in line to potentially be the Vikings’ starting quarterback this season, depending on what happens with Sam Darnold. If McCarthy wins that job, he’ll get to face off against Harbaugh and the Chargers during the regular season.

“J.J. has attacked his rehab this entire last six, seven months, and I can guarantee Vikings fans that he is up and at it today, attacking the day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind,” Harbaugh said, using one of his trademarked phrases. “I love him. I’m not gonna love playing against him, we play the Vikings this year. There’s gonna be a part of me, though…”