There is still a lot of buzz around what the Patriots are doing at quarterback and while Drake Maye is the media favorite, J.J. McCarthy has been lurking as a potential team favorite. To understand why, we have to look at what's been said this off-season so far. Back in February, Elliot Wolf spoke about the quarterback position and he said the following.
Wolf said he looked for the following in quarterbacks, "Leadership is important and obviously, you know, physical talent, we wouldn’t be talking about these guys if they weren’t physically talented."
When asked about where to draft a quarterback. Wolf said, "I think when you look throughout the league, most of the quarterbacks are first-rounders. I think there’s exceptions to be had, like you know, Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy. Tom Brady. But I think just the league-wide understanding of how important that position is, and how important it is to have somebody there that can help you, you know, win games and get over the hump has changed league wide..."
Wolf continued on his thoughts about the quarterback position, "I think I think the scouting process that you know, that I grew up with that Brian Gutekunst continues to employ has been really good and you know, they’ve been able fortunate enough to, you know, sit Rodgers and sit Love for a year and that that’s been able to help them. I wouldn’t say that that applies to every quarterback but it certainly helps them..."
When asked who's making the decision on the number three selection and quarterback, Wolf said, "It’s gonna be a collaborative effort with Coach Mayo, myself, Matt Groh, the whole staff. At the end of the day, somebody has to make that pick and that’ll be myself."
So what to take away from what Wolf said in February? He looks for leadership at quarterback, that a franchise quarterback doesn't have to come from the first round, that he supports the idea of sitting a quarterback for a season and the selection will be a collaboration, although he will make the call. Now let's look at what Mayo said at the owner's meeting.
When asked if the team was ready for a rookie quarterback, Mayo said, "100%. I feel very good about the staff that we have. We have guys got TC and AVP and even McAdoo - all guys that bring a certain skill set to the quarterback position. Now the balance is, he needs to hear that one voice and what happens sometimes is younger quarterbacks, they have their quarterback guru, they have their coach, their quarterback coach, most offensive coordinators are quarterback coaches. So those guys have worked together in the past, and they're on the same page to support any quarterback that we bring in."
When asked about Boston Media favorite, Drake Maye, Mayo said, "Drake may had a fantastic interview at the combine, he brings a lot of energy, you can tell he has that leadership ability. And you know, also the exciting part about a guy like Drake Maye is the ceiling like there is really no ceiling with a guy like that. Now, in saying that when we're trying to put together this roster, I know a lot of people look at the ceiling. But you also got to kind of see how low was the floor? How low is the floor, and I would say a guy like Drake Maye, he has a lot of room to grow. He's a young guy. Honestly, he hasn't played football nearly as much as these other guys. So that's definitely something that we've looked at. But he definitely is going to develop."
Sounding like Mayo, wasn't sold on taking Maye, the media jumped to asking Mayo about trading down. Mayo responded, "That's right, 100% I know everyone likes to think they have the special formula to picking players. But honestly, the guaranteed way to win is to accumulate more picks. And so if we don't feel convicted at number three, to your point, like we are willing to do that as well."
Note: I compiled all the pros and cons listed of all the quarterback prospects according to the media this year and walked away thinking none of the quarterbacks should be taken before the third round. So if anyone doubts there's reason for the Patriots not to take Maye at three, just look at what Merrill Hoge said about him. Hoge was also right about Johnny Manziel and got dumped on for it. Now back to Mayo's comments.
When it comes to drafting Mayo said, "And one thing that Alonzo Highsmith one of our scouts told me and I truly believe it. He's been doing it for a long time. And he said all the bad picks that he's seen, it's really been where everyone wasn't on the same page and you would hope that you know, you could get everyone on the same page: coaches and also scouts. If you have one person drafting, that's kind of tough."
Note: Again, the team is supposed to be making decisions collaboratively but Wolf is supposed to have final say.
Because J.J. McCarthy name has been circling lately like sharks during a feeding frenzy, Mayo was asked about him. Mayo said, "Let me tell you when I first started watching these guys, it was that three-man race and now as you continue to go to these pro days and bringing guys in on the 30 visits and having time to spend with those guys, to really get to know what makes them tick, I mean it's about five guys honestly that could come in and be a solid quarterback in the future..."
Mayo continued, "Look, there are guys, I don't want to sit here and give you names. I don't want to give you names, but they're about I'd say five or six guys that are just very impressive. They all bring a certain skill set to the table. All skill sets that you want to see out of a quarterback."
Mayo would add at some point, "I will say one of the things that often gets lost is just competitiveness and toughness. And so you see some of the top quarterbacks in the league, like those guys get smacked and get right back up, you know, their offensive line (is there) to help them up. I think that is very important when you're kind of scouting this position."
I am gonna continue on with what Mayo said a little later but for now, he's said the team is ready for a rookie. They're not sold on Maye, there's other quarterback options, they are willing to trade down, and not to forget that the offensive line is there to help the quarterback. Now let's look at some of the comments about McCarthy from the media.
Kiper on JJ McCarthy, "Most college quarterbacks are asked to be the guy, to make the plays running, throwing, getting the ball out like (Oregon’s) Bo Nix, throwing to everybody, running the football. Jayden Daniels was doing everything at LSU. (McCarthy) wasn’t asked to do that. They had Blake Corum. They had Donovan Edwards. They had eight, nine men deep on the O line. They had multiple tight ends, they had receivers. He wasn’t asked at Michigan to carry that team.”
Jeremy Fowler on JJ McCarthy, "I've talked to enough scouts who say he's got high-level ability even though he was asked to be a game manager at Michigan, he has all of the traits to succeed. I've heard him compared to from a few scouts as like a stronger, bigger Kirk Cousins." Fowler also said, "He can run that pro-style offense, has a good arm and he was considered a game manager at Michigan, but he's got higher traits than that, higher ability, he just wasn't asked to throw the ball a lot."
Shane Hallam said on McCarthy, "He continues being labeled a game manager due to the strong Michigan offensive line and rushing attack. The lack of passing volume makes him difficult to evaluate."
Draft Kings on JJ McCarthy, "He was seldom used under Jim Harbaugh in Michigan, but that was because the team’s defense and running game were so good. But is that also because McCarthy needed to be more of a game-manager?"
Alex Barth on JJ McCarthy, "Whatever team drafts him will need to have a strong development plan in place, and a willingness to be patient. A team that has a veteran (read: old) starter in place but will need a new quarterback in a year or two would be the best landing spot for him, setting up a Patrick Mahomes/Jordan Love type development path (not a player comp, more of a ‘path to starting’ comp)."
Johnathan Heitritter on McCarthy, "He does have the intangibles as a field general as well as the accuracy and pocket presence that make him a legit prospect in this talented draft class... McCarthy is a smart player who has been a winner everywhere he's gone, displaying traits needed to protect the football, execute on possession downs, and make clutch passes in crunch time to help his team to victory." Heitritter does go on to compare McCarthy to a better version of Kirk Cousins.
Chris Peterson even wrote an article about McCarthy's clutchness and ability to carry a team, where he mentions McCarthy dominating a number 2 ranked team on the road and said, "J.J. McCarthy was clutch for Michigan football when he needed to be. He was also so damn good, he didn’t need many fourth-quarter comebacks."
Nobody ever says a quarterback isn't good when he gets pulled after dissecting a defense in the first three quarters. Patriots fans should remember how Chad Pennington wouldn't have elite numbers against the team but could pick apart the team’s defense. And allow both the Jets and Dolphins success versus the Patriots. And Pennington was known as a game manager. While McCarthy is compared to Kirk Cousins, who's often referred to as an overpaid game manager.
McCarthy has started 28 of 40 games he's played in, throwing over 700 times. And rushing another 161 times. He's helped his team to three conference titles and a national championship. He has a quarterback of the year award and a rose bowl mvp award. He has experience and he's only 21. And although the league has changed, he has Joe Montana's frame.
As far as McCarthy not showing enough because he didn't throw it a lot, Alex Smith once said, that losing quarterbacks tend to have more attempts/yards. And that "If you’re looking for a statistic that has a better correlation to winning, it’s probably yards-per-attempt.”
Okay Alex, here are the career average yards per attempt for the top six prospects in the 2024 NFL draft:
Maye 8.4
Daniels 8.9
McCarthy 8.7
Williams 9.2
Nix 7.9
Penix 8.2
Going off of Alex Smith's opinion on winning stat, McCarthy is the third best winning quarterback in this year's draft behind Williams and Daniels.
Basically what the media is saying when it comes to McCarthy is he needs an O-line, tight ends and a running game and a good defense because that's what he had at Michigan. That he's a pro style quarterback who was asked to be a game manager but has the traits to be a field general.
So far that's matching up with what both Wolf and Mayo said they were looking for at quarterback and what the team has, minus a left tackle which they can get in the draft. Wolf said he supported a quarterback sitting for a year, so let's continue with what Mayo said about Brissett at the owner's meeting.
Mayo said about Brissett, "And I would also say this, you got to bring a guy like Jacoby in ... he's definitely a starter in this league. And I would also say it's a good mentor to quarterbacks across the league... Jacoby, look, first of all, he's a known entity. He's a guy that's been here before. Secondly, I would say he's worked with a lot of guys on our staff currently. And so anytime you can get a player, anytime you can get a player that is also a coach is beneficial. And he's gonna help as far as the installs and things like that. He has the tools to build a quarterback. So look forward to working with him."
One last quote on Brissett from Mayo, “We're not dead set at taking a quarterback at No. 3, but we do feel good having a guy like Jacoby (Brissett) ready to go."
Mayo basically referred to Brissett as a starting quarterback who doubles as a quarterback coach. So Mayo believes he has a guy who can start while their quarterback sits. And the team has described the team's idea as candidate and made moves for someone who fits McCarthy's media description. Plus Mayo said the team isn't set on a quarterback at 3, so they could trade down as far as 11 if the offer is right.
I'm a Daniels, Nix, and Penix guy in the 2024 draft; having McCarthy as my fourth best quarterback prospect, and I like Sanders (Deion's kid), Will Rogers, and Grayson McCall in 2025. So I'm not a McCarthy fan boy in the slightest and I'm not saying that they're gonna take McCarthy but it does seem like he might be their front runner, especially since it looks like Daniels is going at number two.
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