The national champion Wolverines had their Pro Day on Friday, drawing former head coach Jim Harbaugh back to town. Harbaugh was among a large contingent of coaches and scouts who watched University of Michigan prospects work out.
J.J. McCarthy headlined the group.
With USC’s Caleb Williams likely to go No. 1 overall to the Bears and some combination of LSU’s Jayden Daniels and North Carolina’s Drake Maye following with the next two selections, McCarthy is seen as the next quarterback to go and likely in the top 10.
McCarthy said his goal Friday was to show touch and prove he can make all the throws necessary to succeed in the NFL.
“I just wanted to showcase the questions they had about out-breakers to the left and putting some air on the deep posts, stuff like that,” McCarthy said, via Austin Meek of TheAthletic.com. “I felt like I did that today. I’m pretty confident with the showing I put out there.”
McCarthy has spent the offseason training in Huntington Beach, California, with Daniels and University of Washington quarterback Michael Pennix Jr.
He has had to answer for the lack of numbers, having thrown for a career-high 2,991 yards in 15 games last season, an average of only 199.4 yards per game. His 713 pass attempts in three seasons — two as the starter — are the fewest of any of the top four quarterback prospects.
But McCarthy went 27-1 as a starter.
“It’s about potential, traits, character — all that little stuff,” McCarthy said. “You could throw for 5,000 yards in a year, but if you have awful character and your teammates don’t like you, what’s that going to do for you? I pride myself on the intangibles and being able to be a leader.”
McCarthy eschews social media and focuses on meditation and positivity. He calls himself “unique” in that way.
On Friday, McCarthy wore his signature smiley face, a symbol of his mindset, on the back of his workout shirt instead of his name.
“With all this added pressure that comes with being a franchise quarterback and being drafted and all that, it just brings me back to the roots of, ‘Hey, this is just a game at the end of the day,’” McCarthy said. “When you zoom out on planet Earth and look down, all this pressure that you’re feeling really isn’t there at the end of the day.”
