Michigan football QB J.J. McCarthy is ‘most NFL-ready’ according to ESPN analyst

Michigan football quarterback J.J. McCarthy is one of the most divisive prospects in the 2024 NFL draft. People seem to either love his game or hate it.

They think he’s going to be a superstar or a bust. There doesn’t seem to be much in between. One analyst who has been all over McCarthy though, meaning he understands what a good player McCarthy is, is ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky.

Orlovsky has talked about how the former Michigan football quarterback can make the complex look easy. McCarthy dazzled at the NFL combine and his stock has been improving ever since. He also had a pro day that some called the best they have ever seen, including former U-M head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Michigan football QB J.J. McCarthy is NFL ready

Some have tried to put the McCarthy buzz at Harbaugh’s feet. The claim is that he’s trying to inflate McCarthy’s draft value so the Chargers get a better player. NFL teams would see right through that and when Harbaugh predicted McCarthy would go No. 1, he was expressing an opinion. It’s an opinion NFL teams should trust.

Harbaugh is honest to a fault. He speaks his mind and it has put him in the crosshairs of the NCAA. But NFL teams should listen because he knows McCarthy better than anyone. Whether it’s the Bears, Commanders, Patriots, or Vikings, if a team passes on McCarthy, they will regret it.

The Vikings have so much talent with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson, that McCarthy could succeed right away. He’s got a great arm, is a great athlete and as Orlovsky said recently, he’s the most NFL-ready quarterback in the draft.

“The reason why I do think McCarthy is equipped, skillset, to go in and play at a consistent level is 1. The difference between college and the NFL as a quarterback is you go into college, everybody’s around the same age and everybody has basically the same daily experience,” Orlovsky said on First Take. “You go into the NFL, and you go from 21 years old to 35 years old. And not everybody has the same daily experience.

“So you better be capable and ready to walk in as an adult in the room. I think J.J.’s experience at the Michigan program allows him to do that. The second thing is, you have to have an alpha personality to control that locker room and to lead that locker room. I think being around coach Harbaugh gives him the opportunity to do that.”

McCarthy has plenty of doubters. But most of them just seem like Michigan football haters. The kid will be a star and it’ll be fun watching him prove people wrong.

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