Inside J.J. McCarthy's Pro Day performance: Early feedback, more

ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines held their annual pro day for NFL front offices and coaches on Friday in Ann Arbor, headlined by J.J. McCarthy‘s day. Among the last of the position groups to perform, McCarthy worked out in front of approximately 150 NFL personnel, according to those in attendance, in an attempt to hammer home his top-10 stock heading into the 2024 NFL Draft.

The event was held behind closed doors with only a few glimpses inside via social media, but talent evaluators in the building said that McCarthy’s day was very strong.

“JJ McCarthy throwing session lasted about 25 minutes,” ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller said on X, the app formerly known as Twitter. “It was clean—just two clear misses. He showcased zip and touch while hitting a lot of deep routes. He told me he wanted to show his touch placement and did well there. McCarthy has easy power and velocity.”

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Some pro day events can be layups for prospects working into their comfort zone. McCarthy said a lot of that was on display, but there were also aspects of his game he wanted to improve on and show in front of the scouts assembled at Michigan.

“It was a combination of a lot, but I wanted to make sure I put on display some touch throws over the middle on the move and setting up with little space in the pocket,” McCarthy told The Wolverine. “In the NFL, there’s not too much space to work, and I won’t have that Michigan offensive line anymore.

“I just wanted to showcase the questions they had about out-breaking throws to the left and putting some air on the deep post and stuff like that. I felt like I did that today and was pretty confident with that showing.”

Here’s footage from J.J. McCarthy’s session at Michigan pro day, via @BradGalli and U-M Athletics pic.twitter.com/HeM29wpvNf

— Anthony Broome (@anthonytbroome) March 22, 2024

Of course, it helped to throw to guys he was comfortable with. Michigan players, including underclassman and potential 2025 first-rounder Colston Loveland, ran routes and were part of McCarthy’s workout. Roman Wilson, Cornelius Johnson, and former wideout-turned-defensive back Mike Sainristil also ran routes at the pro day.

McCarthy feels like the comfortability made a difference.

“1,000%, yeah,” McCarthy said. “Just knowing the angles they’re gonna break out at and just know the body movements and the little details of their routes. It’s just a little different with Mike out there — we didn’t have too many reps in before that — but we got some good reps.”

McCarthy’s stock has grown greatly since the end of Michigan’s 15-0 College Football Playoff title-winning season, but he is not exactly sure why, nor has he been paying attention to it. His ascension into the early levels of potential draft selection is completely off his radar.

“I don’t know [why or how it has raised], to be honest,” McCarthy said. “I just feel like everything changed once I started talking to teams and getting on the [chalkboard] with them. Everything has been matching up with what Coach Harbaugh was saying and Coach Moore and Coach Campbell. So I feel like just getting in front of them, getting to know them and building that relationship is the biggest thing.”

Something scouts have used against him is his lack of production relative to his pass-happy offensive peers in the class. All McCarthy can do is use the tools he developed at Michigan to sell himself as a prospect, and he feels the intangibles put him over the top.

“I feel like with the volume of attempts and everything like that, it’s just all about how they evaluate the quarterback position,” McCarthy said. “It’s about potential, traits, character, all those little stuff that you could throw for 5,000 yards in a year, but if you have awful character and your teammates don’t like you, what’s that gonna do for you?

“I just pride myself on the intangibles and being able to be a leader, and that’s the things that I’m selling myself on.”

The 2024 NFL Draft is set for April 25-27 in Detroit, Michigan, just 45 minutes down the road from Ann Arbor. McCarthy is expected to be one of the first players off the board, potentially as a top-5 selection.

Testing results from Michigan’s pro day were being tabulated this afternoon and will be made official later Friday.