There’s a “huge” J.J. McCarthy question on Kurt Warner’s mind ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft next week.
The Hall of Famer quarterback discussed the former Michigan product Friday during an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up,” with the conversation centered around McCarthy’s arm as his draft stock continues to rise entering Thursday’s first round.
“Definitely a bunch of things to like, I like the technique by which he plays, obviously you like the fact that he won a lot of football games, but if I’m drafting someone in the top five, I want to know that I can trust him to win games with his right arm,” Warner said.
“… We never saw the pressure on him to have to make throw after throw after throw, week after week to carry his football team, you will have to do that in the National Football League with the way the league is built, with the talent at the quarterback position, so that is a huge question for me because we’ve never seen it.”
Warner’s comments echo a similar sentiment among scouts as to whether or not McCarthy can shoulder the load often asked of NFL quarterbacks.
McCarthy, who went 27-1 at Michigan, is coming off a national championship win in which he completed 10 of 18 passes for 140 yards and zero touchdowns in the 34-13 victory over Washington.
Despite McCarthy’s staggering win-loss record, the Wolverines largely relied on their running game and defense to win games.
The Post’s Ryan Dunleavy ranks McCarthy as the No. 4 quarterback prospect in this year’s class behind Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye, respectively.
The polarizing prospect has been linked to the Commanders, owners of the No. 2 pick in next week’s draft, as well as the Giants at No. 6, despite former running back Tiki Barber urging the team to pass.
“His film doesn’t say he’s a first-round quarterback. His film doesn’t say, ‘I need to get rid of all my assets and go draft this guy,’ because a lot of what he does doesn’t translate. The scheme that he ran at Michigan — and maybe this is an indictment on the scheme and not necessarily on him — but it didn’t highlight the things that you need to do, second-, third-level reads, multiple combo routes that you have to get correct. He didn’t do any of that stuff. They were run-based and he thrived in it because he was good at — that’s what [former Wolverines coach] Jim Harbaugh wanted him to do,” Barber said on WFAN last week.
“The J.J. McCarthy thing, to me, is a smokescreen. He’s getting inflated because Jim Harbaugh won’t stop talking about him. Now all of a sudden, he’s a top-four quarterback? I don’t buy it.”
With several quarterback-needy teams selecting high in the first round — the Patriots are currently No. 3 and the Vikings are at No. 11 — McCarthy may have his NFL home decided early Thursday night.
The 2024 NFL Draft runs from April 25 through April 27.
