J.J. McCarthy, the quarterback from 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 percentage (96.4) of any starting 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 all the bouquets he has been showered with since he has enabled Michigan to reclaim its position as one of the best college football programs. And perhaps, just possibly, McCarthy’s head coach at Michigan, Jim Harbaugh, who is currently the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, was right when he referred to McCarthy as “the greatest quarterback” in Michigan football history.
But I’m not totally certain that McCarthy will emerge as the next great NFL QB. Furthermore, I strongly disagree with the Detroit Lions even considering a trade for the Wolverines product.
First instance, Jared Goff is already the quarterback for the Detroit Lions. 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—most notably Matt Miller of ESPN and Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network—now project that he will go undrafted in the first 15 picks 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. For Holmes & Co., who are currently in win-now mentality and have far more urgent needs to attend to (such as cornerback and EDGE), I don’t think that would be even nearly worth it.
And no offense to McCarthy, but I don’t believe he will be the kind of game-changer that can lead the Lions to the Super Bowl this coming season.
Don’t get me wrong, but I believe the former Michigan quarterback has the intangibles—size, athleticism, and accuracy—to perhaps succeed as an NFL thrower in the future. I just don’t see it happening for McCarthy anytime soon, especially after he essentially served as the Wolverines’ game manager. And that ought to be sufficient warning for Holmes to avoid the quarterback right there.
