J.J. McCarthy and Mike Macdonald in Seattle? ESPN analysts discuss
The Michigan Wolverines could have a quarterback selected in the first round for the first time since Jim Harbaugh if J.J. McCarthy comes off the board early in the 2024 NFL Draft. And a reconnection with a familiar face could wind up being in the cards.
In his most recent mock draft, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. sent McCarthy to the Seattle Seahawks with the No. 16 overall pick. The mock was posted on Jan. 23, a day before Jim Harbaugh left Michigan for the Los Angeles Chargers and before the Seahawks hired former U-M defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald to be their head coach.
Here’s what Kiper said at the time of his mock scenario:
While I don’t have a first-round grade on McCarthy right now — a lot can change before Round 1 on April 25 — he does have first-round arm talent, along with the ability to beat defenses with his legs. He’s the type of quarterback teams will take a shot at in the middle of the first round, especially when you consider he just turned 21 a few days ago. He rarely turns the ball over — he threw 44 touchdown passes and had nine picks over the past two seasons — and can make every throw. McCarthy just wasn’t asked to beat teams with his arm for the Wolverines, because they so often dominated at the line of scrimmage. As of now, I’m betting on a team seeing his upside and trying to take him somewhere in the teens.
Speaking on McCarthy and the Seahawks this week, Kiper and co-host Field Yates discussed a potential reunion with Macdonald and McCarthy in the Emerald City.
“He’s gonna be, I think, the fourth quarterback off the board,” Kiper Jr. said on Monday’s First Draft. “Ahead of Michael Penix Jr., ahead of Bo Nix. That’s just my opinion right now in real-time, Field. That can change between now and late April. For right now, I think he’s the fourth guy.”
Yates replied: “Mel, I guarantee you this. No team will have better intel other than the Chargers on J.J. McCarthy. Mike McDonald was there in 2021 when he was a true freshman. Obviously, that’s a different version of him, but his connections to that program are innumerable, right? He’s got plenty of ways to decide if J.J. is worth it if they even want to go down that quarterback pathway.”
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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. He is currently the 57th-ranked player in the 2024 NFL Draft class on Pro Football Focus’ big board.
McCarthy could match or eclipse his former head coach, but could also fall somewhere into the second round. That would put him in the running to be selected somewhere close to Michigan’s second-highest quarterback selected since Harbaugh in Chad Henne, who went 57th overall to the Miami Dolphins in 2007.
Since then, Michigan has had only a single quarterback drafted. That designation went to Jake Rudock, who was a seventh-round selection of the Detroit Lions in 2016. This year’s draft will be held in Detroit from April 25-27.
