J.J. McCarthy, 'the most interesting player' in 2024 NFL Draft, has one team appearing to go all-in on him

The 2024 NFL Draft is a little over a month away, and one of the most buzzworthy players in the event continues to be Michigan Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy. USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye and LSU’s Jayden Daniels have long been the toast of the draft process, but it looks like McCarthy is crashing the party.

There is a lot of smoke currently linking McCarthy to the Minnesota Vikings, who parted ways with longtime starter Kirk Cousins in free agency. The Michigan signal-caller met with the team at the NFL Combine, and Minnesota is set to send a pair of coaches to U-M’s Pro Day on March 22 ahead of a private workout in the Twin Cities.

The smoke only grew last week when the Vikings traded with the Houston Texans for a second first-round pick at No. 23 overall. Now holding picks No. 11 and 23, they have the ammunition to move up and secure the Michigan quarterback if they choose.

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah had them doing just that in a mock released on Tuesday morning, projecting a Vikings trade up to No. 4 overall to select McCarthy behind the top three quarterbacks on the board who went to the Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders and New England Patriots, respectively.

“So if you’re a Vikings fan or in the Twin Cities, are you looking at this screaming and cheering or you looking at this saying, ‘Oh no, that’s way too much. It’s crazy,” NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt said Tuesday on Good Morning Football. “I like him as much as the next guy, but the No. 4 overall pick? Also a little context here, never in the modern era of the NFL Draft have quarterbacks gone 1-2-3-4. It’s never happened. We’ve seen 1-2-3 a handful of times. In my personal opinion, I don’t think it will. I still think Marvin Harrison Jr. will sneak into the top four. But listen to this, if the Vikings say, ‘We’re going for McCarthy,’ just let the debate begin. And I’m on the side of, look, you love so much about him and he’s so exciting and we love what he’s accomplished. But there are a lot of things that weren’t his fault that make me nervous.

“If you’re a Vikings fan this morning and DJ’s mock draft matters and you think they might go get him, you’re nervous. You’re nervous that he played three years like Caleb Williams and he threw almost 400 fewer passes. You’re nervous that you see guys who have incredible rosters in college and it just doesn’t work out for them. If you want to go to someone like (Alabama’s) AJ McCarron, or someone more old school like (Florida’s) Danny Wuerffel, they always had the better team in college. And that’s unfair to J.J. McCarthy. All he does is say the right thing and win games. That’s fine. But my god, No. 4 overall pick?

“If you’re drafting a guy at No. 4, let alone moving up to No. 4, you want to be absolutely wowed like, ‘This guy is incredible with no doubts.’ It would be a leap of faith, and how do you say that about a guy who just went undefeated in college? Believe me, you say it. McCarthy to the Vikings would really bring the house down. I think he’s the most interesting player, most interesting pick by one of the most interesting teams right now. I can’t help it, the contagious excitement of mock drafts is real.”

There would be plenty of excitement around McCarthy to the Vikings given the built-in set of weapons deployed by head coach Kevin O’Connell, seen as one of the best offensive minds in the game. McCarthy would have Justin Jefferson, arguably the best wideout in football, and Jordan Addison, a first-round pick who had 900 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, at his disposal. It would also come with a built-in run game with former Green Bay Packers back Aaron Jones signing with the team in free agency.

McCarthy, who was 27-1 as a starter at Michigan, threw for 2,991 yards with 22 touchdowns and 4 interceptions this season for the Maize and Blue, completing 240-of-332 (72.3%) of his passes. This season culminated in a 15-0 record and the College Football Playoff National Championship. Next up for him is U-M’s Pro Day, in addition to private meetings with other NFL teams.

The 2024 NFL Draft is set for April 25-27 from Detroit, Michigan, just 45 minutes down the road from Ann Arbor. The first round will take place on the 25th with the second and third rounds on the 26th. The fourth through seventh rounds will be held on April 27.