Jim Harbaugh: J.J. McCarthy will be first quarterback selected in NFL Draft

Settling in as the new head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers this week, former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has begun making the rounds on the top sports programs. On Friday, he surprised Colin Cowherd on The Herd when he told the host that he believes his former quarterback, national championship winner J.J. McCarthy will be the first quarterback selected in the 2024 NFL Draft.

McCarthy declared for the draft after taking the Wolverines to the summit of college football. However, according to the latest draft boards, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound QB is behind several others, including the Heisman Trophy winners from the past two seasons – Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels.

“Arm talent, athleticism, it-factor, winning with numbing repetition,” Harbaugh told Cowherd of McCarthy’s best attributes. “Don’t be surprised if/when he goes, if he’s the No. 1 quarterback off the board. That’s my prediction right now.

“When people get a load of JJ and how he can throw the ball, how he spins it, his athleticism, his intelligence, the it-factor, the competitiveness he has, and they get around him and really start digging in and talking to him, yeah, that’s an early prediction for the 2024 NFL Draft.”

McCarthy projected as first-round pick

Under Harbaugh’s guidance, McCarthy found success early as the starting quarterback for Michigan. Taking over the job after winning an open competition with Cade McNamara before the 2022 season, he led Michigan to back-to-back undefeated regular seasons with consecutive wins over Ohio State, two Big Ten titles and two College Football Playoff berths. The only loss as a starting quarterback he suffered while at Michigan was at the CFP in 2022.

Overall, in nearly two seasons as the starter, McCarthy has been a highly efficient but low-volume passer, relative to other top quarterbacks. He completed 64.6 percent of his 322 attempts in 2022 for 2719 yards, 22 touchdowns and five interceptions. He bumped up his completion percentage to 74.2 percent in 2023 on 287 pass attempts for 2630 yards, 19 touchdowns and four interceptions.

The latest projections have McCarthy coming off of the draft board after Williams, Daniels and UNC quarterback Drake Maye. He’s still a likely first-round draft pick if that is how the draft order shakes out. There are half a dozen teams who could decide this spring that a quarterback is their top priority in the draft. He could even stay in the Midwest if the Minnesota Vikings like what they see from the former Wolverine.