Mel Kiper Jr. explains projection for JJ McCarthy in NFL Draft

Former Michigan Wolverines quarterback JJ McCarthy is one of the top 25 prospects in this year’s NFL Draft, according to Mel Kiper Jr. While appearing on ESPN First Draft, Field Yates asked Kiper about having McCarthy ranked No. 14 and how the league has influenced his ranking.

“I could care less,” Kiper said. “The rationale here is closing that gap between Drake Maye and JJ McCarthy. That was my goal in terms of that ranking. I didn’t feel comfortable with a huge gap between JJ and Drake. …We know he’s probably going to go probably in the top six overall. So when you look at the gap between Drake Maye and JJ McCarthy, I wanted to close it a little bit. That’s why he’s at 14.”

Kiper stressed that McCarthy will not go any higher than 14 on his board. “That’s as high as he’s going to go,” he said. “We know he’s going to go in to top six. To me that’s overdrafting. I wasn’t going to push him up any higher. I didn’t want to have McCarthy at 25 and Drake May in the top 10 on the big board.”

On Kiper’s big board, he has Maye ranked No. 7 and the third-best QB in the draft. Kiper’s top-two quarterbacks are Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels and both are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 on the big board, respectively.

Is JJ McCarthy the most NFL-ready QB?

McCarthy might be the fourth-best QB in the draft, but is he the most ready to make an impact. ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky believes McCarthy is the one QB who could turn heads this fall.

“The reason why I do think JJ McCarthy is equipped, skillset, to go in and play at a consistent level — 1,” Orlovsky said. “The difference between college and the NFL as a quarterback is you go into college, everybody’s around the same age and everybody has basically the same daily experience. You go into the NFL, and you go from 21 years old to 35 years old. And not everybody has the same daily experience.

“So you better be capable and ready to walk in as an adult in the room. I think JJ’s experience at the Michigan program allows him to do that.”

McCarthy finished his college football career with 15-0 record in 2023 and a national championship. In his final year at Michigan, McCarthy threw for 2,991 yards, 22 touchdowns and four interceptions while competing 72 percent of his passes.

On3’s Matt Connolly contributed to this report.