After already meeting with Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels, the New England Patriots are currently hosting fellow top quarterback draft prospect J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy was slated to have dinner with Patriots’ brass on Sunday night before visiting the team’s facility on Monday, according to NFL Media.
Owners of the No. 3 overall pick, the Patriots will undoubtedly use the pick to select a quarterback. New England will likely be the third team to take a quarterback, as the Bears and Commanders — who respectively own the first and second picks — are also expected to select quarterbacks.
The Bears are widely expected to select USC’s Caleb Williams. The Commanders are slated to select either LSU’s Daniels or North Carolina’s Maye.
McCarthy has flown up the draft charts since leading Michigan to the school’s first national title since 1997. He’s currently tabbed as the fourth-best quarterback and 20th best player in CBS Sports’ prospect rankings.
The 6-foot-3 McCarthy was a two-year starter at Michigan. He went a staggering 28-1 as the Wolverines’ starting quarterback over that span that included a 2-1 record in the College Football Playoff and a 2-0 record against arch rival Ohio State.
He didn’t throw for a ton of yards at Michigan, but McCarthy was extremely effective. He completed 68.5% of his passes during his last two years at Michigan with 44 touchdowns against just nine picks.
McCarthy’s style of play is eerily similar to his college coach, Jim Harbaugh. While not a prolific runner, Harbaugh was elusive and at times difficult to corral in the pocket. McCarthy is very much the same. A lot of his big plays at Michigan were the byproduct of rollouts that took advantage of his athleticism.
Speaking of Harbaugh, the new Los Angeles Chargers’ coach recently heaped his former college QB with considerable praise.
“I think he plays quarterback the best of any quarterback in the draft,” Harbaugh said, via ESPN. “He’s incredible. So, big market, small market. Cold weather, hot weather, it won’t matter.”
It’ll be interesting to see if the Patriots agree with Harbaugh, assuming that McCarthy is still available when New England is on the clock.
