What Michigan football does in 2023, it will be largely a product of how much quarterback J.J. McCarthy stays the same, progresses, or regresses.
Of course, the hope is that he progresses tremendously entering his second year as a starter and third season as a whole.
Generally, teams that perform well over the course of the season and that win national championships have veteran leadership, especially at the quarterback position. McCarthy was still young last year, and still had the shackles on, somewhat. This year, though the Wolverines could still be quite run-heavy, the hope is that the former five-star signal caller takes his game to the next level and that the Wolverines can reach the promised land by season’s end.
Now, McCarthy has had a winter conditioning cycle and spring practice to differentiate between his first season as a starter and where he’s at now. How has he changed?
Offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore spoke with Jon Jansen on the ‘In the Trenches’ podcast on Wednesday and noted that some of the things he’s seen from the young quarterback have the potential to be game-changing.
“First thing is confidence, just his confidence,” Moore said. “He was always a quiet, confident kid. But now you can see it exuded in the way he just walks around, the way he approaches the film room, the way he walks on the field. When he gets out of the huddle or he looks to the sideline for a play, the dude just looks like he’s dynamic just in the way he approaches everything.
“He always had the arm talent, strength, and all that. What he’s done now with his body — started to form his body even more. But mentally into the game. He knows the playbook like we do. And I think when a quarterback does that — and he’s always around like — besides if he’s not in class, he’s here. So when a quarterback starts doing that, especially your starter, that really changes the game.
“And then from a leadership standpoint, he’s starting to take that ownership. And you know, he’s got it. We’ve got so many good leaders on the team. You don’t want too many guys talking but I always told him as a quarterback, you have the trump card to get it how you want it to be done.”
So, that’s what Moore has seen, what does he need to continue to see from J.J. McCarthy moving forward? Really, it’s quite simple: keep doing what you’re doing and trust in what you’re doing.
He’s seen tremendous progress from the Michigan football quarterback thus far, and he doesn’t see it slowing down anytime soon.
“I think just trust in himself,” Moore said. “Trust in his progression, trust all that, and just go with them — just like he did in the spring. You really saw that in the spring carryover from the fall. Instead of sometimes you felt like he was he’s out there just making plays, and now he’s going through the progressions, going into the reads, knows exactly where the ball is gonna go. He’s on time with his feet, and everything just looks so comfortable for him. It just looks kind of like he’s in a video game sometimes.
“So just excited to watch him do that. And to continue to do that as he goes through fall.”
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