Sometimes it feels like Michigan football fans and coaches know something the rest of the world doesn’t when it comes to quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
McCarthy is spoken of inside Schembechler Hall as the best QB the Wolverines have had in some time. Jim Harbaugh has called him gifted. For the first time in forever (it might actually be literally forever), fans aren’t ready to move on to the next signal caller on the depth chart.
Yet, the national media and fans of other programs don’t get it, proclaiming McCarthy a somewhat so-so QB.
Once a five-star recruit, 2022 was McCarthy’s first year as the Wolverines starter. If you watched the games, Michigan didn’t use his arm more because, more often than not, it didn’t need to, given that Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards were so dominant in the run game. But in the most important game of the year, at Ohio State, when Corum was essentially unavailable, it was McCarthy’s arm that gave Michigan the lead before Edwards piled on.
ESPN evaluated 44 quarterbacks in a recent column ($) and it seemed to echo the national sentiment. What’s more, some opposing coaches in the Big Ten, while giving praise, appeared to act quite ho-hum about McCarthy’s talent, as well.
He emerged as Michigan’s QB1 early last season and efficiently led a run-heavy offense before opening things up in the passing game down the stretch. McCarthy, ESPN’s No. 25 overall recruit in the 2021 class, had 2,719 passing yards with 22 touchdowns, plus decent running numbers.
He executed a relatively safe passing game, though, and struggled at times with downfield throws. Coaches are curious whether a more unleashed McCarthy will be a better version.
“He’s at the top of the league, obviously, I’m just not sure how good he really is,” a Big Ten defensive coordinator said. “He was protected in terms of actually having to go out there and make some s— happen on his own. If they can run the ball, then they can protect those guys and not ask them to do a ton.”
McCarthy only had five interceptions on 322 attempts, but several proved particularly costly, including two pick-sixes in Michigan’s CFP semifinal loss to TCU.
“He’s just gotta protect the ball,” a Big Ten coach said. “If he does that, they have very gifted players. I thought he made them different.”
Though he made some mistakes in big moments, it’s like his first career touchdown pass has been forgotten, when McCarthy scrambled before making a cross-body, cross-field bomb which resulted in six for the maize and blue. He makes throws others can’t make, and Michigan football says it intends to harness his talent this year — regardless of the running talent it has at uts
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