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J.J. McCarthy Hype Surges as Jim Harbaugh Labels Him NFL Draft’s Top QB

Originally posted on Gridiron Heroics | By Matt Lombardo | Last updated 3/25/24

The hype surrounding J.J. McCarthy continues to surge as the NFL Draft nears, after his former head coach, Jim Harbaugh offered the former Michigan quarterback a ringing endorsement.

“He’s the best quarterback in this draft,” Harbaugh told reporters at the NFL Annual Meeting on Monday morning. “He plays quarterback the best of all the quarterbacks. He’s a winner.”

Harbaugh and McCarthy, of course, won a National Championship together with the Wolverines in 2023 before Harbaugh departed to become the Los Angeles Chargers’ head coach.

McCarthy passed for 2,991 yards with 22 touchdowns to four interceptions in his standout junior campaign, before seeing his stock rise during a stellar performance at the NFL Combine and impressing league executives, scouts, and coaches during Michigan’s pro day.

“That was the best workout I’ve ever seen a quarterback during a pro day,” Harbaugh told reporters. “The best throwing day I’ve ever seen. To hear coaches and GM’s come to me, ‘Great job with JJ.’ Like I predicted. It was absolutely no surprise whatsoever.”

The Chargers aren’t in the market for a quarterback, but Harbaugh believes whoever winds up choosing McCarthy is going to land the type of player who can alter the trajectory of a franchise.

Jim Harbaugh Not Alone in Pre-NFL Draft J.J. McCarthy Love

As the NFL Draft approaches, there’s seemingly a groundswell of optimism that J.J. McCarthy will wind up as one of the premier quarterbacks to emerge from this year’s class.

Former NFL Executive of The Year, Randy Mueller, suggests McCarthy belongs squarely in the conversation alongside USC’s Caleb Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels, and North Carolina’s Drake Maye as this year’s premier quarterback in the NFL Draft.

“You better put J.J. McCarthy in that top group of quarterbacks,” Mueller recently told me. “Because he may have the biggest ceiling of all of them.

“He crushed it in Indy, and he actually crushed it on film, it’s just taking certain people a while to catch up and realize.”

Could Teams Trade Up for J.J. McCarthy in The NFL Draft?

Monday, New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo declared that anything is on the table with the No. 3 overall selection, on the heels of Arizona Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort revealing that they are open for business at No. 4 overall.

Those revelations could juice an already strong trade market for teams looking to move up for a quarterback, generally, and perhaps to pluck McCarthy, specifically.

The New York Giants previously hosted J.J. McCarthy for a visit, as did the Denver Broncos, and it appears the Minnesota Vikings are showing strong interest as well.

With Williams essentially earmarked to the Chicago Bears as the No. 1 selection, excitement and buzz surrounding McCarthy seem to be building to a crescendo, which could benefit the Cardinals and Patriots if both are open to moving back and garnering a king’s ransom in return.

This article first appeared on Gridiron Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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