JJ McCarthy Will Throw At NFL Combine

JJ McCarthy continues to climb mock draft boards and a strong throwing performance in Indianapolis this week could kick that climb into high gear.

Former Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy is going to throw while in Indianapolis for the NFL Draft Combine. That's not something that all first-round quarterbacks choose to do, but Michigan fans should not be shocked by McCarthy's decision

Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy will throw at the Combine in front of NFL evaluators, sources tell @BleacherReport. pic.twitter.com/4n59QlUJaS

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) February 26, 2024

McCarthy is a winner, a gamer and a nasty competitor. That's why Jim Harbaugh loved him and that's also why Harbaugh thinks McCarthy is going to go No. 1 in April's draft.

"Arm talent, athleticism, it-factor, winning with numbing repetition. Don't be surprised if, when he's the No. 1 quarterback off the board. That's my prediction right now," Jim Harbaugh told Colin Cowherd about McCarthy on "The Herd." "When people get a load of JJ and how he can throw the ball, how he spins it, his athleticism, his intelligence.

"Talk about ‘it-factor,’ he's got it. The competitiveness that he has, and they get around him, and they really start digging in, and they start talking to him."

It's a virtual lock for McCarthy to go in the first round at this point, but there are some talking heads starting to think along the same lines as Harbaugh. FantasyPoints.com's Brett Whitefield has McCarthy going No. 1 overall to the Chicago Bears via a trade with the Carolina Panthers.

"McCarthy represents the perfect marriage between a high floor and a high ceiling," Whitfield said. "He is as “QB sound” as they come and is easily the safest quarterback in this class. From throwing with anticipation, mastering all of the processing elements of QB play, layering throws, running a pro-style offense, repeatable sound mechanics, pocket awareness, playing within structure, and playing mistake-free football, McCarthy does all the “little things” an insanely high level — all the things that make NFL quarterbacks good. 

"But (and here is where this might be surprising), he also has all of the high upside traits that can take guys from being good, to being elite. He is hyper-mobile with a freaking cannon for an arm. He has some of the most impressive throws on the move I have ever seen and has the arm talent to fit the ball into the tightest windows — he is the total package, do not let a low pass volume college offense fool you. He is also a winner (29-1 as a starter), and while a lot of people might lose sight of that being valuable, the NFL absolutely cares about it."

Michigan fans can't wait to see where McCarthy lands so that they can track his NFL career after delivering them to the promised land. It's going to be very interesting to see how he competes this week in Indianapolis.