Next up for Heisman Trophy-winner Johnny Manziel and former NFL QB Kurt Benkert is J.J. McCarthy, whose draft prospects are a big subject heading into next week.
Many reports say teams are very high on McCarthy, who's the consensus No. 4 quarterback on the big board behind Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye. Where McCarthy gets drafted, though, is unknown.
Manziel and Benkert break down the reigning national champion, who is poised to be a big storyline on the first night of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Johnny Manziel
This guy plays in a run-heavy Michigan offense that doesn't ask him to do too much but at the end of the day, he made throws that not a lot of other QBs in college football could make in crunch time when he needed to. So for me, hats off to the young fella. He's a national champion, made some huge throws in those big games to get them to where they needed to be.
Now, he's having a great draft season from his pro day to all the hype he's getting. It's all well-deserved. And really my only question is like, where does this guy go and who does he fit and who does he mesh with moving forward?
He has the intangibles that we love to talk about. He's the kind of third-down killer who an NFL coach and GM is looking for in an offensive scheme. To have a guy who's not scared of the moment, not scared of the third-and-12 and is able to go in there and manage those situations calmly. wow. And sometimes, at the end of the day, we know in the NFL that the punt is the best option. Sometimes, young quarterbacks get into trouble where they're trying to do too much and don't realize — and this is me speaking from experience — that sometimes just punting the ball back and forth throughout a game until you get into a rhythm is OK.
When talking about ideal fits, it seems like the Vikings with their two first-round picks are always brought up. I know that may raise a little bit of red flags and kind of raise a couple heads up off the table, but Sam Darnold can play football. That guy can sling the rock. He was drafted where he was for a reason and has been waiting for a situation like this to play with Kevin O'Connell and a receiver like Justin Jefferson.
So, when you look at the Vikings, you have to ask yourself, is this an upgrade over what they have currently in the room? That might mean maybe this isn't a fit.
Instead, maybe it's a team like the Broncos or Raiders. There are quarterback-needy teams who might reach at the top of the draft for a guy like McCarthy. Where he goes on the board will likely depend on how the draft shakes out in terms of quarterbacks at the top.
Kurt Benkert
You look at the intangibles and checked boxes that teams want out of a quarterback, and he has them — stone-cold killer and composed under pressure, thriving on third downs and in the red zone like when the game matters the most. You can trust him over almost any guy in this draft that he could make that play was he asked to do a lot.
Do we have a big sample size? No, not really, but I'm looking around this draft board and think he can upgrade a few of these quarterback rooms.
There are some guys who are really good at playing quarterback but just crumble in crunch time, and he's the opposite of this. I'm excited to see how this plays out because this is gonna be a guy that we look back two to three years from now to see how it shook out, "My god, that makes sense." It comes down to fit, though.
Does McCarthy warrant a team picking him over what that team might already have? I think he'd be a great fit in Minnesota, but would the Vikings take him while they have Sam Darnold? I don't know. So, his prospects in the NFL, for me, come down to fit.
I think we are looking at Minnesota like, "Ah, they're gonna take a quarterback," because there's a public perception around Darnold, whose perception around the league is distorted because the starting opportunities he's gotten have been less than ideal. As a backup with the 49ers last year, he was able to operate that offense really well when he went in.
Just knowing what I know about O'Connell, I love how he coaches, I love how he talks about his players, I love how he is in the media, and that's a reflection of how you are in the building, too. So, Minnesota is a very desirable place. It's why Donald wanted to go there in the first place. It's a place that quarterbacks would want to be. I don't think they're gonna take a quarterback this year. Something's telling me they're not.
I'm looking at some of these other teams. You have the Giants, but is McCarthy an upgrade over Daniel Jones? I think he is because, situationally, that's been the, the issue with Jones. You look at New England, which needs a quarterback. Is McCarthy the guy they want or is it someone like Penix who can sling it in cold weather? Maybe falling in the draft maybe and going behind a Matthew Stafford as a backup for a year or two, taking over when a guy like that's ready to retire, is how this plays out.
Regardless of how the draft shakes out, I think McCarthy can play.
