Harrison Phillips: J.J. McCarthy reminds me of Josh Allen understanding power he has to lead

Defensive tackle Harrison Phillips had a front-row seat for quarterback Josh Allen's first few years in the league, as the two were in the same 2018 Bills draft class.

Now with the Vikings, Phillips is watching the ascendance of another young quarterback in J.J. McCarthy. Phillips noted that he can see some parallels, which he talked about in a press conference earlier this week.

"I've commented before about [how] he came to me the week after his injury to try to learn more about the defense," Phillips said, via Will Ragatz of SI.com "Asking those great questions. He's really stepped up in the personal power role [this year]. In the locker room, I'm constantly seeing him go up to new guys, to new players, dapping each other up, sitting on the couches, and just having conversation. Where last year it was off to rehab, off to meetings. He understands that we have to build a family here and that you can't have unique results without unique relationships.

"And then man, he's got some confidence. And he reminds me of Josh Allen when I was with him in Buffalo, coming into his own and understanding the power that he has to lead this organization, and he's doing a fantastic job doing that."

McCarthy has a long way to go to get to a similar level of performance as the 2024 AP MVP. But that kind of name drop from Phillips illustrates that McCarthy is going about things the right way this offseason.