Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy named to Davey O'Brien Award watch list
Michigan Wolverines football junior J.J. McCarthy is one of 35 college football quarterbacks to be named to the Davey O’Brien Award preseason watch list. The award is handed out annually to the nation’s top signal-caller and “is the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award,” having been around since 1981. Michigan has never had a player take home the honor.
One of 10 juniors to make the list, McCarthy is one of four Big Ten quarterbacks to make an appearance, joining Wisconsin’s Tanner Mordecai, Nebraska’s Jeff Sims and Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa. McCarthy was a third-team All-Big Ten honoree last season (the first- and second-team quarterbacks are both no longer in the league) and one of three returning starting signal-callers in the conference.
The 6-foot-3, 202-pounder led Michigan to a 13-1 season last fall, with the Wolverines winning the Big Ten and making the College Football Playoff for a second straight year. Those 13 wins are the most in a single season in program history. McCarthy threw for 2,719 yards and 22 touchdowns with 5 interceptions, completing 208 of his 322 passes.
McCarthy also landed on the watch list for the Maxwell Award, presented to the sport’s best overall player, and was one of 10 players in the conference to earn Big Ten preseason honors.
Michigan’s quarterback has had a healthy offseason and is the unquestioned starter. Neither of those things were true at this time last year. McCarthy had to recover from a shoulder injury and win a quarterback battle heading into the 2022 campaign. Now, he’s feeling better than ever.
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“I’m always a person that strives for the path of most resistance, but it’s been the most fun in my entire life playing football right now,” McCarthy said Monday. “Everything’s just clear. Everyone knows what’s going on and things are effortless right now with the defense and with the chemistry of the guys. I’ve been reading that defense for two, three years now, so it’s so much fun out there going against those guys. It’s just been so much fun.”
McCarthy was ranked No. 8 on ESPN.com’s list of the top quarterbacks in the country heading into 2023. Asked about his placement, the Michigan standout said he doesn’t pay much attention to it.
“I don’t get too caught up in the rankings and stuff like that, because most of them go off of stats, most of them go off of just like little stuff that’s out of your control,” McCarthy said. “The only thing that I focus on is to be the best quarterback I can be for this football team, because that’s all that matters, because that’s what’s gonna get the wins. … I want to win football games. And when all that stuff pans out, it pans out. All that stuff’s out of my control. So I just try to focus on what I can control.”
He’ll control a lot for Michigan this fall and is at least considered a quarterback to watch this season.
