J.J. McCarthy met with three NFL teams in Ann Arbor ahead of Michigan's Pro Day
The 2024 NFL Draft is expected to be a quarterback-heavy one. In particular, the first three teams in the NFL Draft look like they’re in need of a quarterback, along with several teams behind them who are going to be looking for a new signal caller. Amid all of that, Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy has become an interesting prospect.
McCarthy worked out last Friday in Ann Arbor for his Pro Day and, according to Albert Breer, he met with three NFL teams ahead of Michigan’s Pro Day.
The teams in question are the Washington Commanders, New England Patriots, and Seattle Seahawks. Respectively, Washington has the second pick in the NFL Draft while New England has the third. Seattle is down at 16th in the draft order.
Those meetings that J.J. McCarthy has had with teams have been going well for the national champion quarterback. As Breer explained, he’s been impressive to teams.
“McCarthy’s been excellent in that setting, meeting with teams,” Breer wrote.
It’s assumed that the Chicago Bears will draft Caleb Williams, the quarterback out of USC, first overall. After that, Washington and New England both have an evident need at quarterback and will likely be selecting from a pool of remaining quarterbacks. That includes Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, and J.J. McCarthy, among others who could rise throughout the rest of the NFL Draft process.
For its part, Seattle has less of a need at quarterback, with starter Geno Smith. The Seahawks are also picking after J.J. McCarthy is expected to go. However, Seattle does have some interesting ties to the young quarterback. For one, head coach Mike Macdonald was with McCarthy at Michigan in 2021 as the team’s defensive coordinator. On top of that, Jay Harbaugh, another coach at Michigan and the son of former Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh, is now on the staff in Seattle.
J.J. McCarthy has made himself one of the more interesting decisions in the 2024 NFL Draft. Where he ends up, however, remains to be seen.
Jim Harbaugh praised J.J. McCarthy for his Pro Day
Jim Harbaugh left Michigan to be the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. While the Chargers don’t need a quarterback by any means, Harbaugh was still excited to praise J.J. McCarthy for his Pro Day performance.
“The workout J.J. had, I mean I’ve been to a lot of pro days and watched quarterbacks throw, that was the best I’ve ever seen a quarterback throw it in a pro day. Not only were his feet great in the individual drills, then he started throwing and every throw was right there. The receivers did a great job too. They all had a great day,” Harbaugh said.
“Here, coaches and GMs will come up to me and say, ‘Great job.’ It’s like I predicted once they were around him. I’ve been hearing stories about where he is on the board. The little things, the intangibles, it was absolutely no surprise whatsoever. There was raving and it was great to hear. I know it was sincere. It’s unsolicited. But it’s numerous, numerous GMs, numerous head coaches.”