Dan Orlovsky: Michigan’s JJ McCarthy is most NFL-ready QB in 2024 Draft

There are plenty of differing opinions about Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy and his future in the NFL. ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky isn’t ready to say that McCarthy has the highest ceiling of any QB in the 2024 NFL draft.

However, Orlovsky does believe that JJ McCarthy is the most NFL-ready quarterback in this year’s draft class. He explained why Thursday morning on First Take.

“The reason why I do think JJ McCarthy is equipped, skillset, to go in and play at a consistent level — 1. The difference between college and the NFL as a quarterback is you go into college, everybody’s around the same age and everybody has basically the same daily experience. You go into the NFL, and you go from 21 years old to 35 years old. And not everybody has the same daily experience.

“So you better be capable and ready to walk in as an adult in the room. I think JJ’s experience at the Michigan program allows him to do that.”

There’s no doubt that McCarthy went through a lot during his time at Michigan, including dealing with two separate Jim Harbaugh suspensions. Speaking of Harbaugh, Orlovsky feels that playing under the now Chargers head coach gives McCarthy an edge.

“The second thing is, you have to have an alpha personality to control that locker room and to lead that locker room. I think being around coach Harbaugh gives him the opportunity to do that,” Orlovsky said.

He added that there are also on-the-field attributes that should allow McCarthy to step in right away and play well in the NFL.

“No quarterback in this year’s draft had more control of the line of scrimmage when it comes to run-game stuff, getting in and out of the checks. That’s a huge part of the NFL game, and it’s different than college football. What guy gets us into the right run play or out of a bad run play?” Orlovsky said. “JJ McCarthy was part of a huddle. We see huddles in the NFL way more prevalent than we do in college football.

“JJ McCarthy was under center way more than most guys in this draft. That’s a bigger part of the NFL now a days than it was a couple of years ago. Play-action pass, JJ McCarthy ran a ton of it at Michigan. So there’s a lot of elements that I think allows JJ to step in and play at a good level. That doesn’t mean that I think JJ is going to be the best, and that’s the task – find the best guy, not the guy that’s most NFL-ready.”