JJ McCarthy (could he be the Giants target in round one)?

[MightyGiants]

There also are a lot of areas of improvement for McCarthy entering the NFL as some sources said late in 2023. An AFC director of player personnel told WalterFootball.com:

J.J. is similar to [Will] Levis, but J.J. has better feel in the pocket than Levis did .... J.J. has a strong arm, is pretty good throwing outside the numbers. But I question his vision and instincts. He's late throwing down the middle of the field, and that leads to some misses. He misses quite a bit vertically because he's late on throws. I'm not sure what he's looking at so we will have to find that out in the interviews .... I don't like the decision-making, and he can be careless and reckless with the ball, which is surprising for a Harbaugh guy. J.J. is more talented than a game manager, but the instinctive issues are concerning.

https://walterfootball.com/scoutingreport2024jjmccarthy.php

[Ed Vette]

Like I've said, he should have stayed another year and moved to a different program. Perhaps Harbaugh leaving expedited his decision to push his chips in due to uncertainty.

[Ed Vette]

There also are a lot of areas of improvement for McCarthy entering the NFL as some sources said late in 2023. An AFC director of player personnel told WalterFootball.com:

J.J. is similar to [Will] Levis, but J.J. has better feel in the pocket than Levis did .... J.J. has a strong arm, is pretty good throwing outside the numbers. But I question his vision and instincts. He's late throwing down the middle of the field, and that leads to some misses. He misses quite a bit vertically because he's late on throws. I'm not sure what he's looking at so we will have to find that out in the interviews .... I don't like the decision-making, and he can be careless and reckless with the ball, which is surprising for a Harbaugh guy. J.J. is more talented than a game manager, but the instinctive issues are concerning.

https://walterfootball.com/scoutingreport2024jjmccarthy.php

Harbaugh said he wouldn't be surprised if he's the first QB off the board.

https://sports.yahoo.com/jim-harbaugh-makes-bold-j-230248640.html

Some say Harbaugh should take a drug test.

[MightyGiants]

Like I've said, he should have stayed another year and moved to a different program. Perhaps Harbaugh leaving expedited his decision to push his chips in due to uncertainty.

From JJ's perspective, he just won a championship.  Outside the top 3 QBs, the field is pretty weak.  He could have gone back, but it would have meant a new system (learning new systems tends to set QBs back), and there was no assurance the new system would suit him or that the team would still have the same talent levels.  There is always the injury wildcard as well.

Right now, he can come out, and he is likely a first-round pick.  As it stands now, he will likely be drafted lower in round one, which should help his long-term NFL future as he is likely to be drafted by a better team. 

From the NFL perspective and wanting to get to know more about JJ McCarthy, I am sure most would have preferred another year to see what JJ could do (and hopefully fill out his frame a bit). 

Still, when you are picking 6th in this QB-needy league, you are not going to have a choice of a perfect prospect, so it's a matter of what defect you are willing to live with.

For me, I am warming up to the idea of living with being less proven (but demonstrated talent) with some offset by being on the younger side.

[Philosophers]

JJ's interviews and getting tested as he watches film will be off the charts.  That is what coaches will love over Williams, Maye and Daniels.

[MightyGiants]

Bottom line for me in a nutshell:

He was clearly a good to very good college QB and has some nice tools. With that said, he never popped off the screen for me in big games the way I'd want a top 10 pick to do. Obviously I'm not a professional scout, but I have watched college and pro ball consistently for over 40 years now so I do have some degree of trust in my eyes.

I would not advocate taking him sixth overall under any circumstances, personally. And I don't expect him to last until 39. If he is still on the board past the 25/28 range and the Giants moved up to get him, I could live with that. What I don't want to see them do is let their desperate need for a good QB push them into overrating McCarthy or any other QB prospect this year. That is the Gettleman approach, and I really do not want to go back to that.

I first heard this from Mike Lombardi.  It's called the 4 Ps of scouting.  Your comment in bold makes you a performance scout while I think we all strive to projection scouts.


Poor. Picker. Performance. Projector.

In every area of life, everyone is a scout. We all evaluate things every day, therefore most of us can relate to these four areas -- which generally cause teams to make mistakes.

» The "poor" scout is someone who cannot effectively evaluate talent. Now, it would be easy to assume that poor scouts wouldn't have jobs, but that would be a bad assumption since mistakes happen each year in the draft. Trust me, the league is filled with "poor" scouts.

» The "picker" scout finds one thing that is wrong about the player and allows that one area to alter his evaluation. Much like many teams did with Suggs, picking on the 40 time, even though his tape was consistently good.

» The "performance" scout can only base his evaluation on what a player does in his presence.

» The "projector" scout can view talent and project their ability, understanding how the player fits for his respective team.

[DaveBrown74]

I first heard this from Mike Lombardi.  It's called the 4 Ps of scouting.  Your comment in bold makes you a performance scout while I think we all strive to projection scouts.


Poor. Picker. Performance. Projector.

In every area of life, everyone is a scout. We all evaluate things every day, therefore most of us can relate to these four areas -- which generally cause teams to make mistakes.

» The "poor" scout is someone who cannot effectively evaluate talent. Now, it would be easy to assume that poor scouts wouldn't have jobs, but that would be a bad assumption since mistakes happen each year in the draft. Trust me, the league is filled with "poor" scouts.

» The "picker" scout finds one thing that is wrong about the player and allows that one area to alter his evaluation. Much like many teams did with Suggs, picking on the 40 time, even though his tape was consistently good.

» The "performance" scout can only base his evaluation on what a player does in his presence.

» The "projector" scout can view talent and project their ability, understanding how the player fits for his respective team.

Not really because I have watched McCarthy in lots of games over multiple seasons, not just the big ones against top opponents. I was highlighting those games because I think they're much more important than the ones against weak opponents. Not just because those were the only games "in my presence."

[MightyGiants]

Harbaugh said he wouldn't be surprised if he's the first QB off the board.

https://sports.yahoo.com/jim-harbaugh-makes-bold-j-230248640.html

Some say Harbaugh should take a drug test.

It's sort of funny, before Harbaugh made his pronouncement I had heard that many thought that Jim is/was legit crazy (in a good way)

[Ed Vette]

From JJ's perspective, he just won a championship.  Outside the top 3 QBs, the field is pretty weak.  He could have gone back, but it would have meant a new system (learning new systems tends to set QBs back), and there was no assurance the new system would suit him or that the team would still have the same talent levels.  There is always the injury wildcard as well.

That's what I implied by uncertainty. Getting drafted green is also a risk. There are failures and career backups littering the league. Hopefully for him, he gets picked by a team committed to his development for as long as it takes. Any GM that takes him in the top ten better be prepared to do that. Part of DJ's downfall was rushing him to the field when he should have taken the year behind Eli Manning.

[Philosophers]

Keep one thing in mind.  Nobody thought Baker Mayfield would go #1 as everybody picked the other guys like Darnold and Rosen.  Teams see things differently because they have more info than fans.  All the interviews, private sessions, film study review with player, etc. is info fans never see or hear about.

[Gman329]

There are three QBs worth taking high and JJ clearly is not one of them.  Even taking him in the 2nd round would reek of desperation.  When you draft a QB, you want it to be with confidence, not hope. Even the top guys have uncertainty.  Drafting a QB lower is akin to buying a lottery ticket......and we're in no position to waste draft picks on a lottery ticket or hitching the next few seasons to a prayer.   

[Philosophers]

There are three QBs worth taking high and JJ clearly is not one of them.  Even taking him in the 2nd round would reek of desperation.  When you draft a QB, you want it to be with confidence, not hope. Even the top guys have uncertainty.  Drafting a QB lower is akin to buying a lottery ticket......and we're in no position to waste draft picks on a lottery ticket or hitching the next few seasons to a prayer.   

We as fans are also in no position to think we have all the info on a player like a team has to make the best evaluation.  I am not advocating him but just making that point.

[DaveBrown74]

Keep one thing in mind.  Nobody thought Baker Mayfield would go #1 as everybody picked the other guys like Darnold and Rosen.  Teams see things differently because they have more info than fans.  All the interviews, private sessions, film study review with player, etc. is info fans never see or hear about.

True about Mayfield being a surprise at first overall but he was absolutely expected to be top 10 and probably top 7. Prognosticators have McCarthy going in the 18th-25th type range right now.

I agree with you that anything can happen though. Treating these mocks or prospect rankings lists as some sort of gospel or believing that teams' boards look more or less the same is completely misguided.

[Bob In PA]

C'mon Harbaugh, you can support your boy McCarthy without a) sounding like a disingenuous jerk, and b) embarrassing him when he not only isn't among the top-3, but possibly not even taken on Day One. But then, I would guess that McCarthy is not so naive as to take Harbaugh's prediction seriously.

Larry: If that happens (not being taken in round one) the Giants would likely move up on day two for him, IMO.

With their situation (Jones, etc.) they would be fools not to do so.

IMO, the worst that can happen... he's as good as Jones and they still come up $$$ winners in the long run.

Bob

[Philosophers]

True about Mayfield being a surprise at first overall but he was absolutely expected to be top 10 and probably top 7. Prognosticators have McCarthy going in the 18th-25th type range right now.

I agree with you that anything can happen though. Treating these mocks or prospect rankings lists as some sort of gospel or believing that teams' boards look more or less the same is completely misguided.

Yeah but the prognosticators are dopes like us.