The JJ McCarthy Situation

Rumors are swirling about JJ McCarthy's availability as Michigan nears the halfway point of spring football.

Many Michigan fans are ready for the JJ McCarthy era to start in Ann Arbor and assume that it will this fall. However, rumors recently began to swirl that McCarthy's march to the top of the depth chart has been put on hold due to a shoulder injury.

Per a source close to the program, McCarthy has been dealing with something since before the Orange Bowl against Georgia. He was able to manage the discomfort during the playoff game and obviously had a pretty good outing. The freshman went 7-of-17 for 131 yards and a score and also carried the ball four times for 24 yards in the last game of the season.

Him being able to play in that game indicates that the injury isn't season-ending serious, but recent developments indicate that he's being kept on ice throughout spring ball. We know he can throw the ball — we witnessed it during our sit-down interview with him — but uncorking it all day long during spring practice is a different story. In order to prevent any further injury, he's taking it easy.

Rumors started popping up about imminent surgery, but we've learned that no such procedure is guaranteed. Surgery has been discussed, but nothing is scheduled and going under the knife is not a certainty at this time. 

This all throws a wrench into the quarterback battle between McCarthy and Cade McNamara. Obviously McNamara led Michigan to great heights last year, but people saw glimpses of what a McCarthy-led offense could look like and started to get excited about a loaded unit returning tons of production. Now, instead of seeing the two QBs battle it out on April 2 for the spring game, we won't see McCarthy until the 2022 campaign rolls around. Sitting out for any amount of time puts him behind the 8-ball when it comes to battling with McNamara into the fall, especially if surgery ends up taking place. Even if it doesn't, he'll obviously miss out on numerous opportunities to prove that he should be the guy.

Stay tuned for more information surrounding this developing story.