Chargers News: Why Jim Harbaugh Keeps Propping Up J.J. McCarthy As Draft Prospect

We get it, to be honest.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh talks to quarterback J.J. McCarthy before the start of the Rose Bowl. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Newly-hired Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh has been singing the praises of his former national football championship-winning Michigan Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy in the lead up to this year's draft, even putting him ahead of other, more highly-touted signal callers.

To at least one pundit, Evan Bleier of Inside Hook, this is actually a brilliant tactical maneuver. We'll let him explain.

"In the lead-up to the draft, most pundits have been in agreement that quarterbacks Caleb Williams (USC), Jayden Daniels (LSU) and Drake Maye (UNC) were the top three available signal-callers," Bleier writes. "In March, Harbaugh, who left Michigan and will be coaching the Los Angeles Chargers this season oncehe leaves his RV, pushed back on that narrative. 'I think he plays quarterback the best of any quarterback in the draft,' Harbaugh said. 'He’s incredible. So, big market, small market. Cold weather, hot weather, it won’t matter.'"

"Harbaugh may or may not love McCarthy — who some believe profiles as a more athletic version of borderline-bust Mac Jones, as an NFL prospect — but it’s 100% in his best interest to carry on as if he does. That’s because the Chargers hold the No. 5 pick in the draft, and if Williams, Daniels, Maye and McCarthy are selected with the first four picks, Harbaugh will have his pick of the remaining litter at five overall."

It's a salient point -- if all four of the top quarterback prospects are drafted with the top four picks, it will give Harbaugh a crack at whichever non-quarterback prospect his heart desires at No. 5.

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