J.J. McCarthy, a signal-caller at Michigan, is the quarterback from the 2024 draft class who is most associated with success. And with good reason—in his two seasons as the starting quarterback for the Wolverines, all he accomplished was victory.
Between the 2022 and 2023 seasons, the 6-foot-3, 202-pound QB recorded an outstanding 27-1 record in 28 total starts. Most importantly, he guided the Maize and Blue to a national championship in 2023 and an unbeaten season (15-0)
.Furthermore, McCarthy concluded his college career with the highest victory % (96.4) of any starting college quarterback since Chuck Ealey (1971) of Toledo and Jimmy Harris (1956) of Oklahoma, who finished their amateur careers with respective records of 35-0 and 25-0.
The talented Wolverines quarterback is deserving of every bouquet he has been given for his role in elevating Michigan back to the status of a top-tier collegiate football team. And perhaps, just possibly, McCarthy’s head coach at Michigan, Jim Harbaugh, who is currently the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, had a point when he referred to McCarthy as “the greatest quarterback” in Michigan football history.
However, I’m not certain McCarthy will emerge as the next great NFL passer. Furthermore, I strongly disagree with the Detroit Lions even considering a trade for the Wolverines player.
First of all, Jared Goff is the franchise quarterback for Detroit already. And this offseason, the Lions organization will lock down Goff with a big, long-term contract, like it or not.
Second, McCarthy’s draft value is increasing quickly to the point where several draft analysts, including NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah and ESPN’s Matt Miller, predict that he will go undrafted in the first 15 choices of the April draft.
Therefore, Detroit general manager Brad Holmes would need to give up several, important draft assets and trade up from the No. 29 overall choice in order to make a deal for the dual-threat quarterback. That wouldn’t be worth it in the slightest for Holmes & Co., who are currently in win-now mode and have far more urgent requirements to take care of (like cornerback and EDGE).
And no offense to McCarthy, but I don’t believe he’ll be the kind of difference-maker that will lead the Lions to the Super Bowl this coming season.
Please understand that I believe the former Michigan quarterback has the intangibles—size, athleticism, and accuracy in passing—necessary to perhaps succeed in the NFL in the future
pass. I just don’t see it happening for McCarthy anytime soon, especially after he essentially served as the Wolverines’ game manager. That alone ought to be sufficient warning for Holmes to avoid the quarterback.
The Lions would be out on McCarthy if I were them
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