JJ McCarthy is ready to take step, but offensive questions remain for Michigan

It’s been a fun couple of season for Michigan, but the Wolverines are hoping to get back to the College Football Playoff and actually win a game next season.

A lot of that pressure hinges on quarterback JJ McCarthy and his ability to lead the team’s offense. While there’s plenty of questions surrounding the unit as a whole, one thing the college football world seems to agree on is McCarthy’s talent.

On3’s Andy Staples and The Wolverine’s Chris Balas certainly do, as they debated the topic on the latest On3 Roundtable.

“One thing I thought was interesting about The Game last year, JJ McCarthy at that point had not been asked to really carry the offense, to win them a game. He had to do that against Ohio State and he did,” Staples said. “How much has he grown, and what else can he do? Because a lot of times, they didn’t need him to be Super-Man. They just needed him to manage the game, and hand off.”

In response, Balas detailed where Michigan’s offense is looking to go from here, and just how highly the Wolverines are thinking of their quarterback.

“Yeah, when you’re running 400 yards a game, and I talked to Sherrone Moore about this, Michigan’s offensive coordinator, and he said, ‘You know, I don’t care how people, what fans think. If it’s sexy or not. There’s nothing sexier than running for 400 yards, or 300 yards on Ohio State.’ So he said, ‘We’re going to do whatever it takes to win,’ and this is exactly, you know, we’ve got the formula against Ohio State. There’s no guarantee that that’s going to continue, but we’re going to continue to do what we do,” Balas said. “Also though, JJ McCarthy took a huge step in the spring, to the point where he said we’d give him ten plays and we’d say, ‘Okay, that’s enough JJ. Go over there and get some water and relax,’ because he’s so good. So against teams like Georgia, as we’ve seen with Ohio State, you’re going to have to be able to air it out. You hope that you have the wide receivers to do it. Cornelius Johnson comes back after a big game against Ohio State. You think maybe him, Roman Wilson. But are they those guys that can really move the needle in those big games? We’re going to find out.

“But JJ has all the skills. Great runner, but more than anything he’s a great leader, and one thing about him is he doesn’t care how many yards he throws for. He just wants to win. He was devastated. He had 343 yards against TCU, but he also had those two big pick sixes, which he says still haunts him to this day. But he’s got all the skills. He’s going to be an NFL guy, high round draft pick at some point.”

Over the off-season, McCarthy has continually been projected to be a first round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, so Balas’ prediction makes a ton of sense. However, Michigan fans recognize there’s a job to be done before that time, and so does their quarterback.

Time will tell if Michigan can make it back to the College Football Playoff for a third consecutive season, but 2023 could be their best team yet. With JJ McCarthy leading the charge, anything is possible in Ann Arbor.