The Curious Case of JJ McCarthy

They bring up arm strength, athleticism, ability to extend plays, accuracy, etc. However, the one topic that goes right to the top is the ability to take over a game. Even in losses, people want to see you throw for a million yards to win a high-scoring thriller. Even if you lose the thriller, like Patrick Mahomes vs Oklahoma, critics want to walk away from your performance thinking you were their only chance to win it, you just came up short. JJ McCarthy does not have that argument. Yet every other attribute you look for in a great QB, Jonathan James McCarthy has them and then some. 

Everyone has their origin story for JJ. The moment when they knew he was special. Many saw it in his High School days in Illinois, where he led Nazareth to a 26-2 Record before transferring to IMG Academy for the Covid season that didn't happen. Others feel it was the practice field, where the athletic McCarthy showed arm strength and intelligence as a backup. However, for me, it was the day he forced Jim Harbaugh to make a decision. Michigan decided to give both quarterbacks Cade McNamara and JJ McCarthy a chance to start at the beginning of the 2022 season. Cade played solid against Colorado State. However, after McCarthy went 11 of 12 and 3 touchdowns in one half against Hawaii, Harbaugh said JJ was the starting QB the rest of the way. This decision made Michigan 27-1 over those starts. They won a National Championship and even better, several victories over Ohio State. 

After all this success, we find ourselves looking at the 2024 NFL Draft and no one knows what they are getting in JJ McCarthy. Some say top 10 talent who can do anything with the ball in his hands and should be trusted to lead an NFL team right away. Yet others hold strong to the idea that he hasn't shown them he can take over a game so he is a better fit drafted in the second round. He has flashed every skill. He has the cannon arm, the ability to read defenses, and the athleticism to not only take off and run, but be a part of your run game. He is amazing with play-action and roll-out accuracy. He also handles front-seven pressure extremely well, finding the right receiver or running for first downs. Yet everyone can't help but notice the formula for success for the Michigan Wolverines was Ground n Pound football. Running backs Haskins, Corum, Edwards, and a collection of the meanest Joe Moore Award-winning Offensive Lineman beating up the country to victory every Saturday. Adding to this is an elite defense that has players starting all over the NFL. People say that McCarthy was a blessed participant, not a major factor in the wins. I would challenge that group to look deeper. 

Under 3 minutes left in the game. Alabama is up 7. Michigan ball 4th and 2. JJ hits Blake Corum out of the backfield for a big gain. Then he gets a huge first down on a designed run. He follows that with a great pass over the defender's arms to hit Roman Wilson to get them into a goal-line situation. Then finishes the drive with a touchdown pass to Wilson, ties game with less than 2 minutes left. 

I would imagine his detractors would bring up the TCU game. Two INTs for 6 in the game. I would also take them to the press conference afterward. It was there a young JJ McCarthy vowed they would be back and things would be different. He was right. They went undefeated and won the National Title...and beat Ohio State.

If you look at his ability to convert 3rd downs with his arm and his legs. His touch on the deep ball, vision. His field flipping runs. Leadership, work ethic, desire to learn and above all, he is a winner. Look at Andrew Luck. He was not a super prospect because he threw for 300 and 400 yards all the time. In fact I would say he was a regular in the 200s for passing yards. What made the scouts WOW over him, was the fact that he was so efficient. He too played for a team that ran the ball all the time but asked for third-down conversions, big plays in the play action, and homerun touchdowns. McCarthy enters the 2024 NFL Draft as an efficient and accurate passer who executed the same things in his Michigan offense. It should not be considered a fault that he didn't throw for 500 yards and five touchdowns to win a game. Understandably, it should not be considered a given he will be able to do that at the next level when he didn't do it in college. I would only argue that you put him under center and see what he does. Cause if history has anything to do with it, we can all agree he will likely win a lot of games.