NFL Rumors: J.J. McCarthy Expected to Be 4th QB Drafted After Williams, Maye, Daniels

The buzz around J.J. McCarthy leading up to the NFL draft continues to get louder as the Michigan star prepares for his workout in front of scouts this weekend at the scouting combine.

Per ESPN's Jordan Reid, there's an expectation among people around the league that McCarthy will be the fourth quarterback drafted after Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels.

"NFL teams haven't been too afraid of the unknown when it comes to drafting QBs in recent years," wrote Reid, "and there are plenty of teams with mid-Round 1 grades on McCarthy that feel the run-heavy Michigan offense just means untapped potential."

At this point, it would be stunning if McCarthy wasn't the fourth quarterback drafted and he came off the board before the middle of the first round.

The Denver Broncos at No. 12 are a team that's been heavily connected to McCarthy in the early pre-draft process. The New York Giants (No. 6), Atlanta Falcons (No. 8), Minnesota Vikings (No. 11) and Las Vegas Raiders (No. 13) all have a need at quarterback and are likely picking too low to land one of the top three prospects.

B/R's NFL scouting department has the Broncos using the 12th pick on the 21-year-old in its most recent mock draft.

The B/R scouting department has McCarthy ranked as the fourth-best quarterback prospect, but No. 55 overall player on the big board. The biggest question marks in Derrik Klassen's scouting report for McCarthy are his size and arm strength:

"At 202 pounds, McCarthy is terribly light for the position, which is especially concerning for someone who isn't a special athlete.

"McCarthy's arm is also mildly concerning. He has the velocity to fit those throws moving over the middle, but that's it. McCarthy is a one-speed thrower who struggles to layer throws in, particularly down the field and outside the numbers. That's going to severely limit the design of any offense with him at the helm."

McCarthy also played in a Michigan offense that didn't ask him to carry a heavy burden. He only attempted 654 passes over the past two seasons combined. For comparison, Washington's Michael Penix Jr. threw 555 passes during the 2023 season.

It's not uncommon for quarterbacks in Jim Harbaugh's system to have limited attempts. Andrew Luck threw 660 passes in his first two seasons at Stanford when Harbaugh was the head coach.

Even though McCarthy isn't the same caliber of prospect as Luck was when he was drafted in 2012, he has enough tantalizing talent that seems to have teams intrigued about what he can do in the NFL.

It will probably end up resulting in McCarthy hearing his name called fairly early in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.