Draft media finally catching up to NFL's real opinion of Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy: 'The hype is real'

Michigan Wolverines football quarterback prospect J.J. McCarthy entered the NFL Combine being talked about in the same group as Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. But after working out, throwing and meeting with teams in Indianapolis, he’s in the discussion along with North Carolina’s Drake Maye and LSU’s Jayden Daniels as a potential top-three signal-caller in the draft class.

Maye, Daniels and USC’s Caleb Williams, the unanimous projected No. 1 overall choice, decided not to throw, and Pro Football Focus lead NFL Draft analyst Trevor Sikkema told TheWolverine.com that he doesn’t “put too much weight” into the decisions made by each guy, though it is an “added plus” that McCarthy was willing to compete.

McCarthy was impressive in his drill work and testing, Sikkema said.

“J.J. doing that was par for the course for what we’ve heard about his scouting report and who he is as a quarterback,” Sikkema said. “I thought he threw the ball well.

“It’s tough. There were a couple throws I watched that weren’t necessarily as accurate as I wanted them to be, but it’s tough. You’re running different routes with different receivers. There’s no chemistry, there’s no timing, so it’s difficult to be too much of a judge there. I just look at the fact that, hey, you went out there and threw. That’s a good thing.

“Honestly, his 3-cone drill impressed me more than anything I saw at the combine. I think he had the [tied sixth]-fastest 3-cone of any player at any position. And that, to me, also showcased, hey, this is a natural athlete, he played a bunch of different sports growing up. I believe he played hockey, he said, a lot growing up, so he played a ton of different sports.”

The real reason there’s the perception that his stock is rising, though, is due to the media world finally catching up to what NFL teams have believed about him for some time.

“The combine is a fun week, not just because of what you get to see from the athletic testing, but certainly if you’re there — which I was lucky enough to be for my seventh year going, which is crazy to say — the thing that you get the most is talking with people,” Sikkema said. “Whether it’s reporters who are close to covering the team, people that are within the team themselves, scouts, coaches, whatever. You just get to talk to a lot of people, and you get to hear what the NFL is thinking.

“That was the first week where I was able to talk to people that were like, ‘Yeah, the J.J. McCarthy hype is real.’ We’re talking about him in the top 10. We’re talking about him in the same conversation with Jayden Daniels, with Drake Maye. It feels like it’s going to be all over the board when it comes to what the order is of those quarterbacks with some teams. But his range starts at three overall.”

The third pick is held by the New England Patriots. The Arizona Cardinals hold the fourth selection and don’t need a quarterback, but they could trade down with a team that does want a new face of its offense.

About half of the quarterbacks chosen in the first round don’t become a team’s franchise quarterback, so drafting a signal-caller that early is a risky endeavor. However, it’s still the best possible way to find one, which is why they’re valued so high. Sikkema explained that the Michigan quarterback might not be one of the top 30 prospects in the draft but will likely go in the first round, probably in the top 10 or 15 selections.

“I watched J.J. and off of film I gave him a late-first, early-second-round grade,” Sikkema said of the Michigan standout. “Certainly a lot of things he can still improve and be better at. But you definitely see the potential there. I loved how much progress he showed from 2022 to 2023. That makes you think, OK, there’s more in the tank for this guy to continue to get better.

“But the mock drafts sort of pushing him up higher and higher and higher up the board, it’s not necessarily anything he did at the combine or that he’s done recently, it’s more of draft media getting a better idea of what the league thinks of this guy as a whole. Maybe they’ve thought about him this way for a couple of months or whatever it is. But it’s just kind of recalibrating to what we’re hearing a lot more from what the NFL is believing about these guys.”

McCarthy will take the field at Michigan’s pro day Friday, looking to impress the masses one last time before continuing to meet and work out in front of teams individually.