Joel Klatt emphatic that J.J. McCarthy will be great in NFL

Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt is quite confident former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy will be great in the NFL.

McCarthy’s rise up NFL Draft boards is something to behold. Heck, Mel Kiper’s latest mock draft has him going No. 5 overall to the Minnesota Vikings in a trade up.

Now at this point, Klatt thinks McCarthy is bound for greatness and steady improvement as he develops as a pro.

“I’ve seen JJ McCarthy since he was just a pup when he came in as a true freshman,” Klatt said on his podcast. “And he grew into a guy that was the reason they were able to win the national championship. They’ve had teams that did what this team has done in every other facet. Other than crunch time, fourth quarter, can the quarterback go win the game? You know it’s true. Michigan has had really great teams for a long time under Jim Harbaugh, but they didn’t always have the quarterback that could raise the level of the team when they needed it most.” 

“He was able to do that in the Rose Bowl against Alabama. He was able to do that a few times. He did that in some ways against Ohio State. That touchdown pass to Roman Wilson was out of this world.”

From a film perspective, Klatt was most impressed with McCarthy when the quarterback faced third down situations. Basically, that’s the most stressful time for a quarterback.

“A lot of times we watch what’s called cut up,” Klatt said. “Okay, so I’ll go into my my film database and I’ll say okay, I want to watch just J.J. McCarthy on third downs and seven-plus. And when you do that, basically the hardest down to play as a quarterback. When you watch his cut up at third down seven-plus, it’s like, wow, why wait, why is he not a top five player? 

“And you know what, fair enough. Maybe I’m too low on J.J. McCarthy. They didn’t need his ability on first and second down because they were so good upfront. But when he had the ability to change the game on third downs, extend plays, make plays on the edge, create, throw on the run, use his leg to move the chains. He did it. He did it. That’s why he’s going to be great at the next level.”

Klatt ranked McCarthy No. 14 overall in his Top 50 players in the 2024 NFL Draft. With the rapid rise in his stock, it’s likely McCarthy finds his way high into the first round.