NFL Analysis
4/25/24
6 min read
J.J. McCarthy NFL Draft 2024: Combine Results, Scouting Report For Minnesota Vikings QB
The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on J.J. McCarthy.
J.J. McCarthy'S 2024 NFL COMBINE RESULTS
- Height: 6'2 1/2"
- Weight: 219 lbs.
- 40-Time: DNP
- 10-Yard Split: DNP
- Vertical: DNP
- Broad Jump: DNP
- 3-Cone: 6.82 seconds
- Shuttle: 4.23 seconds
J.J. McCarthy 2024 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT
STRENGTHS:
- Excellent ball carriage on drop and set in the pocket. Clean footwork with good balance. Compact delivery.
- Doesn't have a big power arm but has enough arm strength to hit the hole shot from the opposite hash. Must be balanced.
- Effective with firm-touch throws between the numbers — where his arm strength shows up.
- Experience with conventional play-action passing game from under center turning his back to the defense.
- Michigan's 2022 pass game featured conventional play action, with defined reads and throws that helped him. What consistently stands out watching that year's tape is repetitive pocket mechanics; he's balanced with a firm base.
- In pass drops, shows the rush awareness to climb the pocket and calmly reset his throwing platform.
- Effective in designed boot action pass game. Throws the ball well on the move with precise ball placement.
- Has the mobility to make second-reaction plays throwing and running. Good athlete with excellent overall movement.
- On 2023 tape, shows a willingness to make tough third-down throws vs. man coverage. Enough arm strength to drive the ball. Shows pocket poise working progressions, including full-field reads. Stays mechanically sound with a firm base.
- Uses pocket movement to find a quieter area to deliver the ball. Has quick feet to reset his throwing platform.
- Showed improvement in nuances of position. Moved defenders with eyes and shoulders. Made stick throws.
- Good athlete who makes plays with his legs by design and second-reaction movement. Not dynamic.
WEAKNESSES:
- Doesn't have a naturally strong arm. Needs a firm base with his front foot pointing to the target to drive the ball with velocity. Some deeper intermediate and deep throws lose energy on the back end. Has a good arm but not an explosive arm.
- Must become quicker with elimination and isolation from the pocket, which will likely happen with experience.
- Missed a few too many routine throws with less-than-precise ball placement. Must be tightened up.
- Has a tendency at times to break down and leave the pocket when he perceives pressure. Needs to stay within structure.
- 2023: At times, labored to drive the ball when on the move. Ball did not jump off his hand with natural velocity.
- Occasionally has a tendency to be late on some intermediate and vertical throws. Afforded that luxury because he was behind a great offensive line.
- The tape doesn't show a natural sense of timing and anticipation. Don't see those kinds of rhythmic throws.
- Not an off-platform thrower. Needs a firm, solid base to drive the ball and throw with any kind of velocity; has to use his entire body to deliver with juice.
- Too many poor ball-placement throws. Shows tendency to be erratic with his accuracy on routine throws.
NFL TRANSITION:
Based on his 2022 and 2023 Michigan tape, McCarthy is much more of a developmental prospect than a Week-1-ready starter at the next level. He may never be more than a quality starter on a good team with multiple offensive weapons and a strong offensive line.
His tape in college showed an efficient system quarterback lacking any special throwing or athletic traits. However, it would be fair to say that play extension with the ability to make well-placed throws on the move was a strength of his game, in addition to plus athleticism to scramble for first downs when demanded. He is more of a play extender than a play creator, but that is a meaningful part of his game and showed up throughout this tape. That will be strongly factored into his projection and transition to the NFL.
One trait that consistently showed up on tape — a critical one as you project McCarthy to the next level — was an efficient and clean pocket movement to find space to deliver the ball. McCarthy did not show higher-level arm talent, with the result being that he needed to be on balance with a firm base to throw the ball effectively and to have any chance to drive the ball with any kind of velocity (in the same way Kenny Pickett was coming out of Pitt).
When McCarthy was clean in the pocket and could play in rhythm with room to step up, the ball came out well, but that is not realistic to expect consistently at the next level. There will be legitimate questions regarding McCarthy’s ability to function effectively in muddied and noisy pockets with bodies around him. His tape did not show much efficient pocket movement to navigate and reset, nor did it show any ability to make off-platform throws.
My sense watching McCarthy is he projects to the NFL as much more of a system-based quarterback who will be team- and scheme-specific to play at a relatively consistent level, rather than a dynamic playmaker with either his arm or his legs (although he does have plus athletic ability). It would not surprise me if McCarthy became a quality starter down the road given the overall efficiency with which he played in college and with a more refined sense of timing and rhythm in a well-schemed passing game.
OTHER NOTES:
McCarthy spent his last prep season at IMG Academy in Florida, coming out as a 4-star recruit. He became the starter at Michigan in his sophomore season and finished his career with 28 starts and a national championship in 2023.
A defining feature of the Michigan passing game was play-action, with McCarthy executing with a high level of efficiency: 61-80 (76.3 percent) and 10.7 yards per attempt. The large majority of his play-action throws came out of the shotgun.
McCarthy was at his best throwing between the numbers and the hashes, where his body and his feet were aligned and where he could generate some drive and velocity. McCarthy threw the ball very well vs. Michigan State and Purdue. A 22-yard touchdown pass to Colston Loveland vs. Michigan State was one of McCarthy’s best throws of the season: a decisive, aggressive seam throw with good velocity and precise ball placement. The ball came out with a tighter spiral and more juice, and he threw the ball much better on the run with some excellent throws to his left.
