No 40 time for JJ McCarthy at least not at the Combine

[DaveBrown74]

If you look at Harbaugh's entire career, he utilized a strong running game and mixed in play action and some downfield vertical attacks occasionally.  JJ played within that and succeeded.  There is nothing he did that would suggest if he played in a Lincoln Riley offense or Mike Leach or Lane Kiffin that he would not succeed at what they asked.  At least I dont see it.

Fair enough. You've watched a lot more of him than I have. I significantly value your view. If we draft him I'll be rooting for him to light it up for us as fervently as anyone here.

[madbadger]

For a QB, I dont care about a 40 time.  He's beating you with his arm.  He needs to be elusive.  That matters more.

More importantly every major college program tracks players speed in mph with sensors both at practice and in their games. I sure that data is available to the scouts. I know Wisconsin tweets out all the players who break 20 mph a couple times a year. I care far more about a players speed with pads on than running in tights at the combine. In fact I strongly suspect that in a couple years 40 times will become largely irrelevant.

[MightyGiants]

https://x.com/RapSheet/status/1764020919456923683?s=20

[MightyGiants]

https://x.com/_MLFootball/status/1763953075331518594?s=20

[MightyGiants]

[Philosophers]

I saw a great video at the Combine where JJ and Blake Corum were on an upper floor of a hotel with a large open air atrium running up the middle of the hotel.  It looked like they were just playing catch with JJ throwing it probably 25-30 yards on a rope across the atrium to Blake who then tosses it to a person who tosses it to another person who tosses it back to JJ.  They simply looked like they were enjoying tossing a football around.  We all know this is a business but it looks nice to see two kids just doing what we all liked to do when we were younger -- just tossing a football around. 

[MightyGiants]

[MightyGiants]

[MightyGiants]

McCarthy didn't run the 40 but he did run the Short Shuttle and the 3 cone.  His times were excellent and suggest his 40 time will be in the low 4.5s


Short Shuttle- 4.23

3 Cone- 6.82

[H-Town G-Fan]

H

McCarthy didn't run the 40 but he did run the Short Shuttle and the 3 cone.  His times were excellent and suggest his 40 time will be in the low 4.5s


Short Shuttle- 4.23

3 Cone- 6.82

His 3-Cone is 5th amongst all participants. Impressive.

[Philosophers]

H
His 3-Cone is 5th amongst all participants. Impressive.

Yeah yet the lazy folks who don't people play or just get their info from other lazy people who don't do any real college football watching say "average athlete."  Drives me crazy.  If you are going to have an opinion, at least have watched a person play a lot and know the context in which that player played.

[MightyGiants]

Former general manager Mike Tannenbaum suggested the New York Giants draft JJ McCarthy with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The former Michigan quarterback, who's steadily rising up mock drafts into the first half of the first round, would be at his highest projection should he go to the Giants. Sure, there have been predictions of going to the Denver Broncos at No. 12, but not this high.

At least until now and tannenbaum thinks McCarthy is the logical replacement to Daniel Jones.

"If I'm the New York Giants, I am drafting JJ McCarthy with the sixth pick," Tannenbaum said Sunday morning on SportsCenter. "He's a better quarterback today than Daniel Jones and has a much higher ceiling. He was outstanding yesterday. He showed up and competed, the other top three quarterbacks didn't and he threw the ball accurately with good velocity.

"Good anticipation, had excellent footwork. And when you combine that with the fact that he lost one game in college as a starter, had 49 touchdown passes and would've had a lot more if they asked him to do more. He checked every box and he's firmly in play in my opinion with the sixth pick."

https://www.on3.com/pro/news/jj-mccarthy-mike-tannenbaum-suggests-new-york-giants-draft-michigan-qb-no-6-pick-nfl-draft/

[MightyGiants]

Asked for their opinion on the number of quarterbacks who now appear to be locked into the first round, seven of seven evaluators included McCarthy in that mix. As expected, McCarthy's 18-minute interview sessions drew some positive reviews, as did his demeanor and interaction in the quarterback drills, when two evaluators noted that others appeared to gravitate toward him. Evaluators were also pleasantly surprised to see him check in at 219 pounds, although there was at least some skepticism over how much of that was "real" weight, versus pounds that were padded for the event through hydration and some calorie-cramming.

Michigan's J.J. McCarthy showed enough first-round potential as an NFL draft prospect this past week at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
That suspicion aside, the general assessment was that McCarthy showed enough at the combine to keep teams intrigued over his above average arm strength, and mix of intangibles and leadership, allowing him to build on this week in his forthcoming Michigan pro day (on March 22) and the slate of personal visits and workouts he'll be taking on. All of this means that while the teams inside the top three — or those capable of moving into the top three — try to determine a pecking order between Williams, Daniels and Maye, the rest of the quarterback needy teams from No. 8 (the Atlanta Falcons) and beyond are left to get a grasp on McCarthy.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/the-nfl-combine-solidified-4-first-round-qbs-alongside-the-mystery-of-michael-penix-jr-and-bo-nix-051833032.html

[EliWasrobbed]

When has a QB "rising up the draft boards" done well recently? Not antagonizing, but just curious because the last QB projected to be a 2nd rounder/late 1st and "Rose up the boards" was DANIEL JONES

[MightyGiants]

When has a QB "rising up the draft boards" done well recently? Not antagonizing, but just curious because the last QB projected to be a 2nd rounder/late 1st and "Rose up the boards" was DANIEL JONES

The reason that McCarthy is "rising up the draft boards" is because too many in the draftnik community are production scouts rather than traits-based projection scouts.  The production scouts look at his pass attempts and the lower yardage and TDs that lower attempts lead to and declare him not elite. 

Now that McCarthy has declared and there is more focus on him by better scouts, he appears to be rising up draft boards.  The reality is he has always been a good prospect.  He has a strong arm, near elite level athleticism, intangibles that are top tier, he's a winner, and he is a good processor and decision maker.  Plus his youth suggests that he hasn't even reached his ceiling yet.

In some ways, McCarthy could be the cleanest prospect in the draft.  By that I mean there are not as many red flags that create realistic paths to failure.