JUST IN: According to ESPN Insider J.J. McCarthy had an incredible career with Michigan football and as draft’s No. 4 QB

J.J. McCarthy had an excellent career at Michigan football, going 27-1 as a starter. He not only led the Wolverines to a national championship, but he also played on three Big Ten championship teams and won three games against Ohio State.

McCarthy will go down in history as a Michigan football hero. As Jim Harbaugh stated, he is the best Michigan quarterback (in college) of all time. That is not really up for argument.

However, there has been some disagreement about J.J. McCarthy’s NFL draft stock. He is almost certainly going to be a first-round choice. However, there is still much debate over where he sits in the 2024 QB rankings, but here’s what Mel Kiper Jr. said about the former Michigan football starter on the “First Draft” podcast with Field Yates.

“When you think about where we are today with J.J.? “I believe he is quarterback four,” stated Kiper Jr. “I believe he is QB No. 4. “He is ahead of Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix.”

Kiper predicted McCarthy would be taken by the Denver Broncos, who hold the 12th overall pick in the April draft. But McCarthy’s tenure on the board is unlikely to last that long. Every team in the top three of the NFL draft requires a quarterback, unless the Bears elect to keep Justin Fields.

It’s possible that one of those clubs will pass on a quarterback, but the Falcons, Jets, and Vikings all need quarterbacks, and even if Minnesota re-signs Kirk Cousins, you have to invest in the future, and McCarthy, at 21, has a lot of upside.
If McCarthy had returned to Michigan football, he could have been the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, therefore I still believe he ends up in the top ten.