It wasn’t that long ago that NFL draftniks took a look at J.J. McCarthy and said that he was a day-two pick. Then he started eking his way into late first-round mocks, then into the upper half, before eventually finding himself hovering around the top 10 before the scouting combine.
However, there was a seismic shift in the former Michigan football quarterback’s draft stock coming out of Indianapolis. Suddenly, there was talk of McCarthy going top five, perhaps just behind the trio of Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye.
But what if even that was conservative? Because an NFL.com analyst seems to believe it may have been.
Eric Edholm released his latest mock draft on Friday and unlike some other recent mocks where McCarthy maybe goes above one of the aforementioned but that’s about it, this time, Edholm projects that he’ll go behind only Caleb Williams at No. 2 overall.
Pick 2, Washington Commanders, J.J. McCarthy, QB
A week ago, I went on DC radio and relayed how people around the league (not affiliated with the Commanders) thought Jayden Daniels might have a better shot of being the second pick than Drake Maye. Now I am pivoting again. The groundswell of McCarthy-to-Washington rumors has only grown in recent days. It won’t surprise me if J.J. ends up being the culture changer GM Adam Peters is seeking.
Certainly, if McCarthy goes No. 2 overall, the internet will be set on fire. For whatever reason — whether it’s him playing for Michigan football (which didn’t exactly have a prolific pass game given the complementary nature of the offense and team) or the lack of stats — McCarthy has been something of a polarizing figure. Despite having the best third-down efficiency numbers in all of college — and it wasn’t close — and winning the national championship while rarely turning the ball over and being incredibly efficient, there are a lot of pundits who believe McCarthy is not a top talent in the league.
However, consensus is slowly coalescing closer to Edholm’s sentiments compared to otherwise.
In less than a month, we’ll know for sure just who’s right — at least in terms of draft evaluation.