Tennessee Vols legend Peyton Manning added some fuel to the fire when it comes to a big rumor ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Manning, who finished his Hall of Fame football career with the Denver Broncos, appeared on 104.3 The Fan’s Stokley and Josh (co-hosted by Brandon Stokley, Manning's former teammate) this week and he noted that the Broncos are "very interested" in drafting Michigan Wolverines quarterback JJ McCarthy.
“Impressive to talk to. I know Denver is very interested in him and it sounded like a place he’d love to come to but it’s a little bit out of his control,” said Manning.
The Broncos have the No. 12 overall selection in the first round of the draft, which gets underway on Thursday night in Detroit.
McCarthy has seen his draft stock rise significantly in recent weeks. The latest mock draft from ESPN , in fact, has McCarthy going to the Minnesota Vikings at No. 8 (via a trade up with the Atlanta Falcons). If Denver wants to draft McCarthy, they'll likely need to trade up. It seems doubtful at this point that he'll fall to the Broncos at No. 12.
Of course, it's worth noting that draft rumblings don't always play out as expected. We've seen plenty of quarterbacks receive early first round hype late in the process only to eventually fall to the middle rounds of the draft (such as Malik Willis in 2022...or even Will Levis falling to the second round in 2023).
If McCarthy somehow falls to the Broncos at No. 12, it sounds like he'll be the pick based on what Manning, who is still well-connected to the Denver front office, had to say this week.
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