Name: J.J. McCarthy
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 196 lbs.
High school: Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy
Position: Quarterback
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #9
Last year: I ranked McCarthy #36a and said he would be a backup quarterback (LINK). He completed 34/59 passes for 516 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions, while also running 27 times for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 89
Ballyhooed quarterback J.J. McCarthy signed with Michigan in 2021 with sky-high expectations. The 5-star quarterback had a rocket arm, good speed, and an ability to say all the right things that Michigan fans wanted to hear. And if he didn't already fit in with the Michigan crowd, did I mention he played a lot of hockey growing up?
It didn't take long for McCarthy to make good on his athletic prowess. In his first game in a Michigan uniform, he scrambled right, looked a little bit lost, and then chucked a deep ball all the way across the field to the left numbers, over a defensive back's head, and into the waiting arms of speedy Daylen Baldwin, who took it the rest of the way for a 69-yard touchdown. He made several tantalizing plays with his arm and his legs throughout the year.
I had a hard time slotting in McCarthy in this season's countdown. Some fans want him to start game one. Some insiders think he'll start by the end of the season. Personally, I wouldn't rock the boat, considering incumbent starter Cade McNamara went 12-2 last season. But Jim Harbaugh has shown before - when he changed quarterbacks from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco - that he is not afraid to make changes, even when the starter is doing pretty well.
I think McNamara will be the starter week one, and McCarthy will mix in throughout the year. McCarthy certainly brings a different element when it comes to mobility and arm strength, but winning is what matters most. I wouldn't expect a change in the starter unless McNamara plays very poorly or starts losing games.
Prediction: Backup quarterback
That's just it. The job is McNamara's to lose, and rightly so. We can win 11 with our B1G QB; why switch?
ReplyDeleteWho knows if JJ is ready, howeva ... Cade could struggle, and if JJ is our spark say, against Maryland or at Iowa, he's keeping the job. But, is he ready?
Both will play so no point in stressing it now. Injury may make the decision also.
ReplyDeleteI watch Cade McNamara play, and I don't see the controversy. Maybe because I like QBs that keep drives going, even if it means they have to take the short pass, which makes fans who want the home run pass all the time get driven up a wall. But Michigan moves the ball and wins with McNamara.
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