J.J. McCarthy is statistically the second-worst QB since 2000

OK, let's be honest for a second here: J.J. McCarthy is not having a great first season as the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.

But, truthfully, how bad has it been?

Well, according to Tru Media, among all qualified passers over the past quarter-century, he's the second-worst quarterback in football.

Using EPA (Expected Points Added), McCarthy has been a negative variable for his team's success every time he drops back. He is statistically 851st out of 852 eligible passers since the year 2000.

EPA is a stat that shows how impactful a player is on every snap and how they contribute to their team's overall success. For McCarthy, each time he decides to take the ball under center and actually tries to make a play with a deep throw, a screen pass, or an easy checkdown, he's hurting his team's overall goal of winning a football game.

The only player behind McCarthy is widely considered the biggest bust in NFL history: JaMarcus Russell, drafted No. 1 overall by the Oakland Raiders in 2007. Russell wasn't only bad for the Raiders; he was historically inefficient, disregarded team meetings, and did everything he could to sabotage the franchise that took him first in the draft.

While McCarthy has none of those negatives off the field as of yet, his play between the lines has been nothing but an abject disaster.

His most recent game against the Green Bay Packers highlighted what's been wrong for the former national champion out of Michigan since his first professional game. His pocket awareness is non-existent, and any time he has to throw, he's throwing the ball multiple feet too high for any of his receivers to catch it, flying straight into the hands of an opposing team's safety.

The second half, in particular, was a series of negative plays for the rookie, Green Bay's Micah Parsons hunting him down like he was injured prey. If he were lucky enough to scamper away from one tackle, he'd attempt to hold onto the ball a bit longer, only to find himself back on the ground.

McCarthy still has time to recalibrate and climb out of his first-year jitters. John Elway, Peyton Manning, Jared Goff, and others have had historically horrific rookie seasons when looking at their stats, and they've all gone on to play in Super Bowls and, in the case of Elway and Manning, stand as a pair of the best quarterbacks the league has ever seen.

For now, though, as the Vikings announced earlier today, their rookie is in concussion protocol and possibly out for their next game, it's a lot easier said than done. For every Elway, there's a Josh Rosen or a dozen highly-touted, first-round quarterbacks who never dig themselves out of that hole.

They just get buried.

This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: J.J. McCarthy is statistically the second-worst QB since 2000