Broncos Trade for J.J. McCarthy, Xavier Worthy to Chiefs in Zierlein NFL Mock Draft

After an impressive showing at the NFL Scouting Combine last week, Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy has improved his draft stock to the point where one expert believes a team will take a chance on him in the top 10.

In his latest mock draft, NFL.com's Lance Zierlein projected the Denver Broncos to trade up with the Chicago Bears from the No. 12 pick to No. 9 to select McCarthy.

"The Broncos dive head-first back into the quarterback market by moving up a few spots and grabbing a young signal-caller with plenty of upside for Sean Payton to mold," Zierlein wrote.

The 2024 draft class has been headlined by a trio of talented quarterbacks in USC's Caleb Williams, LSU's Jayden Daniels and North Carolina's Drake Maye. However, none of them participated in throwing drills at the combine, opening the door for players like McCarthy to impress the scouts in attendance. He made some throws that led many to now consider him the fourth-best quarterback in the class.

ESPN's Field Yates explained during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show that McCarthy's recent rise up draft boards partly stems from "the fact that you've got a handful of teams that are all fishing in a very, very small pond right now." The Broncos are one of those teams, as they are set to move on from quarterback Russell Wilson and seek their quarterback of the future this offseason.

Elsewhere in Zierlein's mock draft, the back-to-back reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs added some explosiveness to their offense by selecting Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy with the final pick in the first round. Worthy set the record for the fastest 40-yard dash in NFL Combine history on Saturday, so his speed would be a dangerous addition to the Chiefs' passing attack.

"The separation speed of Worthy -- who set a new combine record with a 4.21 40 -- is unique, giving him the ability to rip the top off of defenses, and he's much less linear than recently released veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling," Zierlein wrote.

The 2024 NFL draft will commence on April 25, so there's a lot that can change between now and then as prospects continue to try to work their way up draft boards.