J.J. McCarthy's early practice reviews seem to be forgetting one important factor

Much has been made about what J.J. McCarthy has and hasn't been yet during his first few months as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. The former five-star recruit out of Chicagoland is coming off a national championship season at Michigan. While he possesses a ton of arm talent, as well as the necessary poise to be great in the NFL, he is still very far away from being the Vikings' No. 1 option.

Admittedly, a lot has contributed to that. He didn't play very much as a freshman. It wasn't until his sophomore season that he beat out Cade McNamara for the starting job. All the while, Michigan ran a very run-heavy offense throughout his time in Ann Arbor. McCarthy has the look of an NFL franchise quarterback, but we have to remember one key thing when evaluating him. He is only 21 years old!

Here is how ESPN's Kevin Seifert has assessed early practice footage with the Vikings rookie.

"In sum, McCarthy looked like a quarterback with the talent to be a top-10 pick but with the inexperience of a 21-year-old. In other words: Exactly what should have been expected. At times, he fit darts into small windows against aggressive coverage. On other occasions, he bounced passes to receivers with no defenders in the drill. McCarthy kept the appropriate perspective throughout."

For my money, his inability to throw the football with touch is a major concern. While I do think it can be rectified with great coaching over time, I think many of us failed to realize how much of an unpolished product McCarthy was coming out of Michigan. I don't know if another year in Ann Arbor would have done him a world of good, but you can see that ever rep in this offense is going to matter.

For the time being, age can be an excuse in McCarthy's development, but he has to grow up fast.

Keep in mind that Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy is only 21 years old

If you look at the five other quarterbacks taken in the first round, Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. are all much older than him. All three were in college for five-plus years. Then again, Drake Maye and Caleb Williams entered the draft early as well. Williams is 22, going on 23, while Maye is only 21 as well. Williams is expected to start right away, whereas Maye will start games this season.

Daniels and Nix are projected Week 1 starters, while Penix is like McCarthy in that he is going to have to wait. The biggest difference here is Penix is backing up Kirk Cousins in Atlanta, whereas Sam Darnold is keeping the seat warm in Minneapolis. While I trust Kevin O'Connell's ability to develop McCarthy as a former quarterback himself, this Kwesi Adofo-Mensah draft selection better work out.

Overall, the Vikings have no choice but to accelerate McCarthy's growth and development under center. No, they don't have to thrust him into games just yet, but when his number is finally called, he has to be ready. Given that Darnold has been a mediocre starter at best in his seven-year pro career out of USC, we cannot reasonably expect for McCarthy to be riding pine throughout his rookie year.

McCarthy may be young and inexperienced, but that cannot be an excuse for a top-10 draft pick.