Jim Harbaugh doubles down on JJ McCarthy, Andrew Luck comparison

All offseason, Jim Harbaugh has maintained his stance that J.J. McCarthy is a “generational” quarterback. He said as much at Big Ten Media Days, and he has since double down.

On Monday, Harbaugh compared McCarthy to Andrew Luck, who played for him at Stanford before embarking on an NFL career. Luck was a two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up with the Cardinal and he played six seasons with the Indianapolis Colts after they selected him No. 1 overall.

McCarthy is off to a fast start to the season, and Harbaugh was asked about his quarterback’s confidence. That’s when he dropped a familiar name.

“I hate to compare, right? But very much like Andrew Luck,” Harbaugh said Monday. “A quarterback that’s once in a generation. I knew it first with Andrew Luck. Just the way he took the field for his first practice as a true freshman. It’s just the way he walks on. You see it with other players. Just the presence that they have when they walk on to the field and then, the first time getting into the quarterback position, the presence that they have, you go, ‘Ah-ha, there it is.’

“J.J., first day he walked onto the practice field here at Michigan, that’s what came to mind. This is very Andrew Luck-like. The presence and the demeanor. The everything. I’m well-documented, I think J.J. is a once-in-a-generation quarterback here at Michigan or anywhere.”

Then, in an interview with WXYZ-TV’s Brad Galli, Harbaugh doubled down on that comparison by pointing out everything McCarthy did well through the first two games of the season against East Carolina and UNLV. The junior QB has completed 48 of 55 passes for 558 yards and five touchdowns, and still hasn’t thrown an interception.

But his ability to make different types of passes — from deep balls to check-downs — is why Harbaugh puts McCarthy in such elite company.

“I mean, it’s pretty obvious that that’s the league he’s in, that once-in-a-generation type quarterback,” Harbaugh said of the Luck comparisons. “The goal really is to be the best quarterback in the country, playing for the best team in the country. Deep ball, intermediate ball, off of different platforms, hitting the check down. Once to [Donovan Edwards] for 15 another one to Blake [Corum] for about 20.

“Spreading the ball to all different parts of the field and to different receivers. He’s just been deadly, leaving the pocket, keeping his eyes downfield, finding the open receiver. Those are going for chunk plays. Third-down conversions and touchdowns.”

McCarthy will try to keep things rolling this week against Bowling Green before Harbaugh returns to the sidelines and Big Ten play gets underway next week against Rutgers.