Ex-NFL Star Claims Jim Harbaugh is Manipulating Broncos on J.J. McCarthy

Does Jim Harbaugh have a master plan when it comes to hyping up J.J. McCarthy ahead of the NFL draft?

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh watches with quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) as his team prepares for its / Joe Rondone / USA TODAY NETWORK

Not everyone has jumped on the J.J. McCarthy train.

Former NFL star running back and media figure Tiki Barber is actually looking to derail the fast-moving hype train that seemingly will propel McCarthy into the top-five picks of the upcoming draft.

"J.J. McCarthy thing, I'm tired of hearing it," Barber said on Friday during his appearance on his WFAN radio show. "Stop with the J.J. McCarthy thing. 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 Jim Harbaugh wanted him to do."

Barber's insistence that McCarthy was the product of a system that only asked him to do the basics now looks extremely passe. In reality, Barber's hot take only harkens back to a theory that ended up in the garbage basket a number of weeks ago.

Certainly, it's abundantly clear that former Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh used McCarthy as a perfectly balanced metronome to orchestrate his National Championship offense. As far as the draft goes, Barber believes that it's the new Los Angeles Chargers boss who continues to covertly power McCarthy's rise up the draft board.

"The J.J. McCarthy thing, to me, is a smokescreen," Barber continued. "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." 

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The way Barber sees it is plain and simple: Harbaugh is using McCarthy to ensure he gets first dibs on all the non-QB prospects when he picks No. 5 overall. Having young superstar Justin Herbert under center allows Harbaugh to exploit an early run on quarterbacks. 

Perhaps that's where it starts and ends because Harbaugh is highly unlikely to go to such lengths to ensure a fourth quarterback goes in perfect sequence at No. 4 overall. In all reality, McCarthy's rise has been multi-faceted. Furthermore, his rise has gained momentum based on his strong showings at the NFL Combine and the 21-year-old's in-person meetings with teams.

That adds up to the Denver Broncos being among the teams who are smitten with McCarthy. Getting a shot at McCarthy in the draft is quite possibly a daydream Broncos head coach Sean Payton needs to snap himself out of rather quickly or risk sinking like a stone.

Payton's contingency plan under center is being driven by just how fast McCarthy has rocketed into the NFL's collective consciousness. Barber's theories on how rapidly McCarthy has launched up the draft pecking order might have the complete opposite effect.

Barber and other McCarthy doubters only increase the likelihood that he cements his place as one of the top four QBs to hear their names called early on April 25. After all, any publicity is good publicity.

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