While most analysts were singing the praises of JJ McCarthy leading up to the draft, the national championship winning quarterback also had his fair share of critics. Although McCarthy had an impressive 27-1 overall record as a starter during his three seasons in Ann Arbor, critics would point to the lack of production from No. 9 in Harbaugh’s ground-and-pound offense. In their minds, McCarthy was really never asked to do much at the University of Michigan, so how could any team actually know what they’re getting by drafting him?
In spite of outside noise from doubters, the Minnesota Vikings would select McCarthy in the first round as the No. 10 overall pick. In doing so, McCarthy became the highest-drafted quarterback in U-M history, and it was the highest quarterback selection for the Vikings in franchise history.
Following the draft, analysts – as they always do – graded teams on their selections. For former NFL all-pro running back LeSean McCoy, the selection of McCarthy at No. 10 overall made Vikings the biggest losers of this year’s draft.
“When I watch Michigan, who is ran by Harbaugh last year, if you look at the way he runs his offense, his teams – run the ball, run the ball, run the ball, play good defense. Throw the ball here and there, that’s not his thing. Right now he has one of the best quarterbacks in football with (Justin) Herbert, and he’s still drafting linemen, he’s getting rid of wide receivers, he’s adding a lot bigger linemen, running the ball. It’s smashmouth football, same way he did it at Michigan. And I don’t understand that because it’s like, well why do you go out here and get you a quarterback like this? What shows you that JJ can go out there and win games for you? What shows you that he can go out there and win games with his arm? So I say the Vikings are the biggest losers because, you go out there and get JJ, what shows you that? When I watch his tape, maybe there’s something I don’t know. I don’t know his leadership. I don’t know what type of player he is in the huddle, I don’t know that. And those things matter. There’s not an attribute for that, but those things matter. But when I watch his game tape, nothing jumps off like, ‘yo, we gotta have this dude at No. 10’. So, when you ask the biggest loser, I’m going to go with him. I guess the only thing I can say is that he’s a winner. He did get a championship.”
Talk about a lot to unpack.
Although McCoy had a great NFL career by any standard, his assessment of the JJ McCarthy as a quarterback is very shortsighted and borderline embarrassing. I don’t doubt that McCoy watched some tape on JJ, but I find it very hard to believe he actually studied film from McCarthy’s Michigan career – particularly given the take he provided in the clip above.
On the other side of the spectrum, you have former NFL QB turned analyst Dan Orlovsky – who believes McCarthy is an early candidate for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Leading up to the draft, Orlovsky provided several video breakdowns from McCarthy’s career highlights.
“One of the things that I’ve become frustrated with is people talking about him like he doesn’t have remarkable arm talent, like remarkable ability to throw the football,” Orlovsky said. “And in the play action pass game, which is what he ran a ton in Michigan and what he would run a ton at Minnesota, I think he’s the best in this class when it comes to operating that stuff, seeing the defense, playing with multiple personnel and making some of throws.”
Regardless of the criticism or praise that’s aimed toward McCarthy, the reality is that nobody knows how his NFL career will play out. There is no such thing as a sure-fire selection in the NFL Draft, and there’s plenty of examples to point to as proof. At the same time, critics of JJ McCarthy have been betting against him for years – and they always end up on the losing end of those bets.
We’ll see if that success carries over into the NFL for No. 9.
