Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy has turned heads in the pre-draft process after he led his team to a national title, but not everyone is high on the prospect.
Despite the praise he has garnered from high-ranking analysts and those in the NFL alike, he continues to be one of the most polarizing prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft.
One team he's been mocked to several times is the New York Giants at pick No. 6 overall. Many believe the Michigan product will be available for the taking at that spot, though some have pinned him as a potential top-5 or even top-3 selection.
With an injury cutting Daniel Jones' season short and a need to loom to the future generally speaking, the quarterback position is a priority for the team.
Former Giants standout Tiki Barber is hoping his team doesn't try to make McCarthy a solution, suggesting the passer's seemingly ever-rising stock is nothing but a "smokescreen."
"Not happening. I’m just saying. Not happening," Barber said in a recent radio appearance. "I don’t want him. Not happening."
McCarthy hasn't put up anything on tape worthy of him being drafted as highly as he is pinned to be, in the eyes of Barber.
"J.J. McCarthy thing, I’m tired of hearing it. Stop with the J.J. McCarthy thing," Barber said. "His film doesn’t say he’s a first-round quarterback. His film doesn’t say, ‘I need to get rid of all my assets and go draft this guy,’ because a lot of what he does doesn’t translate. The scheme that he ran at Michigan — and maybe this is an indictment on the scheme and not necessarily on him — but it didn’t highlight the things that you need to do, second-, third-level reads, multiple combo routes that you have to get correct. He didn’t do any of that stuff. They were run-based, and he thrived in it because he was good at — that’s what Jim Harbaugh wanted him to do.
"The J.J. McCarthy thing, to me, is a smokescreen. He’s getting inflated because Jim Harbaugh won’t stop talking about him. Now all of a sudden, he’s a top-four quarterback? I don’t buy it."
Others see a very different picture, as McCarthy has shown clearly that he can execute the Michigan offense to a degree of near-perfection, managing the game well with a high ceiling that he brings to the table with the right arm strength, mobility and athleticism that could be brought more to light in a different scheme.
Where McCarthy ultimately lands will be something to keep watch over when the first round of the draft gets underway on April 25.
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