With Shedeur Sanders (Colorado) and Quinn Ewers (Texas) expected to return to college for the 2024 season, McCarthy is the lone first-round-caliber passer remaining on my board. And if things play out this way, this would be the quickest that four QBs have come off the board in the common draft era (since 1967), per ESPN Stats & Information. Miller has Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and Jayden Daniels all going before McCarthy, but if the junior receives a top-10 grade, it will be hard to turn down the NFL. However, there are plenty of variables surrounding the decision McCarthy will make. How does Michigan do in the CFP this year? What’s the status of Jim Harbaugh and does the NCAA hand down any punishments before McCarthy has to make a decision?
McCarthy seems like a kid that would love to end his Michigan career going out on top and if the Wolverines would do that this year, he might see it as the right time. But if Michigan comes up short, McCarthy could give it one last go, become a captain, and really cement his legacy as the best Michigan quarterback to ever play in Ann Arbor.
Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy has a million — or multiple million(s) — dollar decision to make after the college football season is over. Will he stay in Ann Arbor for one last year, or enter the 2024 NFL draft? Depending on which NFL draft expert you might listen to, they may have McCarthy as the No. 3 QB or the No. 7 QB heading into April. That could make him go from anywhere in the first half of the first round all the way into the middle to late second round of the draft.
