Quarterbacks were one of the position groups to take the podium on Friday in Indianapolis during the NFL Scouting Combine. Three-year Michigan football star J.J. McCarthy was one of those QBs to speak on Friday.
We found out some teams that have already met with McCarthy and there have been eight confirmed teams who met with the reigning national champion:
Chicago Bears (#1 and #9 pick(s))
Washington Commanders (#2 pick)
New England Patriots (#3 pick)
Minnesota Vikings (#11 pick)
Denver Broncos (#12 pick)
Las Vegas Raiders (#13 pick)
Seattle Seahawks (#16 pick)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (#26 pick)
By all accounts, everyone who spoke with McCarthy liked his personality and winning ways. McCarthy, himself, had nothing but positive things to say on Friday about all the teams he spoke with. McCarthy has been rising up draft boards in the past few weeks and he’s only going to continue to climb the boards after meeting with teams and after he competes in the Combine. McCarthy won’t be doing a 40-yard dash or much running — he battling a hamstring — but he will throw and scouts should be impressed with that.
McCarthy never put up staggering stats at Michigan — he wasn’t asked to. McCarthy was asked to put his team in the best position to win games and that’s exactly what he did. McCarthy was asked on Friday about the lack of stats and he’s the first one to admit that he didn’t care about the personal accolades — he only cared about his teammates and winning football games. By the way, he won 27 games in the 28 starts he made during his career in Ann Arbor.
“Stats, for me, wasn’t really the big thing,” McCarthy said on Friday. “All I cared about was being the best teammate I could possibly be, be the best quarterback I can possibly be, whatever was asked of me. The only stat I care about is W’s and we did pretty good in that category.”
What was his message to NFL teams? McCarthy wants them to know who he is as a person. He wants the best for his teammates, he wants coaches and GMs to know he loves football, and he’s going to do everything in his power to go out and win football games.
“I would say just let them know who I am,” McCarthy said on his message to NFL teams. “It’s not just putting on a front. I want them to actually understand I love the game of football, I truly love my teammates and want to do nothing but win football games.
“That’s who I am, being a team guy. It’s not something I’m going to start being selfish now because I have to sell myself more. I’m gonna sell myself on how much I care about my teammates. I kind of goes hand-in-hand with who I am as a person. Being selfless, caring about the guy next to me more than myself. That’s just something that’s innate, I really can’t change.”
