Mel Kiper breaks down why JJ McCarthy is a ‘wild card’ in NFL Draft

Mel Kiper has some interesting thoughts on Michigan Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy as we get closer to the 2024 NFL Draft. The ESPN draft expert spoke to reporters this week about the prospects and was asked about McCarthy who is one of the top QBs in the draft class.

“He to me is kind of a wild card,” Kiper said. “I’m waiting for him to have that game where you say he’s a top-five pick, he’s a top-10 pick, he’s a mid-first-rounder. He was the toughest player at any position to really evaluate because they didn’t ask him to carry the team.”

Kiper went on to say that most quarterbacks in college were asked to be “the guy” like Bo Nix of Oregon and Jayden Daniels of LSU. “He wasn’t asked to do that,” Kiper said of McCarthy. They had Blake Corum, they had Donovan Edwards. They had eight men, nine men deep on the o-line. They had multiple tight ends, they had receivers. …But he wasn’t asked at Michigan to carry that team.”

Kiper also mentioned that McCarthy only threw one pass in the second half against Penn State. “To say I know what J.J. McCarthy is going to be you gotta have a leap of faith there as he’s a great competitor,” Kiper added. “He’s a Josh Allen type of a competitor. He’s super smart. He just turned 21 years of age. He had two really good years. He didn’t throw picks, but the picks that he did throw were kind of memorable.”

Minnesota Vikings a likely candidate to draft JJ McCarthy

While Kiper believes McCarthy is a “wild card,” he believes that the national champion quarterback won’t be waiting long to have his name called on the first night in the draft. In Kiper’s latest mock draft, he has McCarthy going to the Minnesota Vikings at No. 11 overall. This would make sense since the Vikings didn’t re-sign Kirk Cousins who is now with the Atlanta Falcons.

“Does he deserve to go six to the Giants or in that 11-12 spot based on everything we know about quarterbacks and what’s happened in the past? I don’t think I’d have a problem with it.” Kiper said. “It’s higher that I would take him based on grade. … All these quarterbacks, to a certain extent, get overdrafted and pushed up because they’re quarterbacks.”

In 2023, McCarthy threw for 2,991 yards, 22 touchdowns and four interceptions with a 72.3 completion percentage. He was named to the All-Big Ten first team and led the Wolverines to a 15-0 season.