The beginning of February puts us one step closer to two major milestones on the 2024 college football calendar: the start of spring camp and the NFL Draft. Recently, ESPN decided to predict where some of the top QB prospects in the draft will go and included their latest take on Michigan football quarterback JJ McCarthy, who they think will end up with the Minnesota Vikings.
ESPN gives NFL Draft prediction for Michigan football quarterback JJ McCarthy
Most Michigan football fans are also Detroit Lions fans, and it would pain most of them to watch JJ McCarthy face off against Detroit annually. That said, the ex-Michigan quarterback is now projected to wind up with the Minnesota Vikings according to ESPN.
Per their latest projections, ESPN thinks that the Vikings use an early second-round pick (No. 42) to draft JJ McCarthy as a backup for ex-Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins, who they project will re-sign this offseason. This could be good for McCarthy career-wise as it would give him time to develop behind a bonafide QB1 for a bit before getting his chance to shine — this is similar to what the Packers did with Jordan Love and Aaron Rodgers a few years ago.
While ESPN has McCarthy as an early/mid-second-round pick, other NFL Draft outlets — such as CBS Sports — pin the former Michigan football quarterback as a first-round pick for the Seattle Seahawks. Of course, there are still a few months until the draft, so a lot can change, but it looks likely that McCarthy will be a Day 1 or Day 2 pick this year.
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