After leading the Michigan Wolverines to a convincing 34-13 win over Washington in the College Football National Championship, J.J. McCarthy undoubtedly improved his stock for the 2024 NFL Draft. While McCarthy was never going to surpass USC’s Caleb Williams as the best quarterback prospect available (don’t tell Jim Harbaugh that), he may have leaped ahead of a few others.
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McCarthy, like many other NFL Draft QB prospects, has his fair share of supporters and skeptics, but no one is really talking about him as a potential top-three or top-five pick. Those spots seem locked in by Williams, Drake Maye, and possibly even LSU’s Jayden Daniels, with McCarthy’s name nowhere to be found.
Yet, one NFL executive thinks McCarthy should be placed in a much higher tier than where the consensus currently points.
J.J. McCarthy’s NFL Draft stock continues to climb
While there is still a lot to be determined regarding a raw player like J.J. McCarthy’s draft stock, such as February’s NFL Scouting Combine, the early belief is that he’ll either be a Day 1 or Day 2 selection.
Yet, as we know, all it takes is one team to fall in love with a prospect for them to be drafted much higher than anyone anticipates. That may happen with McCarthy too.
According to NFL insider Destin Adams, the NFL views McCarthy in much higher regard than how the ‘public’ views the former Michigan QB.
In fact, Adams notes that he had a direct source who said an unknown NFC team currently grades McCarthy as their second-favorite QB in the 2024 NFL Draft class.
Upon first glance, this could mean that there is an NFC team with a draft board that has USC’s Caleb Williams at No. 1, and McCarthy at No. 2. Or maybe it’s something completely different, like having Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels at the top, with McCarthy coming in second.
Another possibility is that it’s a team that doesn’t even have Williams on their draft board, possibly because they feel there is no chance at landing him, depending on how tied the Bears are to who’s perceived to be the best QB prospect available.
Either way, it’s a very fascinating reveal, as there are plenty of NFC teams in need of a franchise QB. From Washington, Atlanta, Minnesota, New Orleans, it’s hard to say which team may place McCarthy over most of his peers.
Alternatively, it’s always possible it’s another team that isn’t even closely evaluating QBs or has no ‘skin in the game’ that is leaking this tidbit to the public in hopes of having another prospect fall to them once a hectic NFL Draft kicks off.
Still, the point is that teams are high on McCarthy early on in the NFL Draft evaluation process, possibly higher than many expected.
