Junior Colson: J.J. McCarthy ‘still doing those Patrick Mahomes throws’ in fall camp

He’s going to be really, really good. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Back in 2020, when it came to Michigan football’s recruits, the star offensive player had to line up against the star defensive player in a high school heavyweight match.

Now sophomores in Ann Arbor, in Sept. 2020, J.J. McCarthy, then a five-star recruit, took IMG Academy to Tennessee to play Brentwood Ravenwood, home of four-star linebacker Junior Colson.

In the weeks leading up to the game, Wolverines Wire spoke to Colson, asking how he’d react if he had an open lane to his future quarterback.

“I will definitely hold back on J.J. if there’s a wide-open hit on him!” Colson said. “I’ll pull back – I still need him for college. I wouldn’t want him (to get injured). I’ll definitely pull back if I’m (about to get a big hit on him). But the rest of them, it’s all fair game!”

Spoiler alert: he didn’t.

Now, the duo has been on the same sideline for a year now, pulling together, despite being on opposite sides of the ball. So, we needed an update.

Considering Colson has seen McCarthy play dating to their high school days, what’s the same and what’s different about the former five-star? In camp, Colson says that McCarthy is still making ‘wow’ plays, comparing him to the Kansas City Chiefs‘ star quarterback.

“He’s still doing those Patrick Mahomes throws, so you know — it’s awesome,” Colson said. “It’s awesome to see. Right now, he’s having a lot of fun with it. So he’s been comfortable. He’s making a lot of smart reads right now, so that’s the big thing that’s changed. Take the checkdown as well as the deep ball. So I think he’s got a lot of maturity right now.”

At the moment, McCarthy is in a battle for the starting quarterback, as he tries to usurp current starter Cade McNamara. McNamara has an extremely high floor, whereas McCarthy has an apparently limitless ceiling. At the moment, it’s anybody’s guess as to who will win out, should either separate himself during fall camp.

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