Raiders 2024 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy

Raiders QB prospect J.J. McCarthy Background

After transferring to the esteemed IMG Academy for his final season of high school football in 2020, McCarthy was one of the nation's top quarterback recruits. Eventually settling on Michigan, he had his pick of jobs in the country.

He would play sparingly in his freshman season but would earn the starting job in 2022 as a sophomore where he led the Wolverines to the College Football Playoff against TCU. While they would lose that game 51-45, McCarthy had cemented himself as Michigan's starter heading into the next season.

In 2023, Michigan simply asked McCarthy to just steer the ship and not make any mistakes as he handed the ball off often to a stable of good running backs. This is not to say he didn't have some good games such as the 335-yard effort against Purdue where he passed Tom Brady on Michigan's all-time passing yards list.

He would once again lead them to a victory over their hated rivals Ohio State en route to another playoff birth where they were the number one team in the country. Following a win over the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl, Michigan would return to the National Championship where they defeated the Washington Huskies handily.

After securing a National Championship and being called the greatest quarterback in the program's history by head coach Jim Harbaugh, McCarthy declared for the 2024 NFL Draft.