Why J.J. McCarthy needs to be Michigan Football’s future

Michigan football’s loss to Georgia showed why J.J. McCarthy needs to be the future for the Wolverines. 

In Cade McNamara’s first year as Michigan starting quarterback, he had a 12-2 record. The Wolverines won the Big Ten Championship for the first time since 2004.

McNamara has great leadership skills, made the right checks, and always kept Michigan football in the right play. He stepped up in pivotal moments at Nebraska and Penn State.

However, against Georgia, it was readily apparent that Michigan needs an upgrade at quarterback to contend for a national championship.

Against Georgia, McNamara was 11/19 for 106 yards and two interceptions. While McNamara did not post the prettiest statline, I’m not pinning the loss entirely on his shoulders.

Georgia was the most dominant team in the country for most of the year and we knew it was the more talented team going in. Over the last three recruiting cycles, Georgia signed 40 top 100 recruits while Michigan signed seven.

In Big Ten play, Michigan is usually the more talented team on the field more often than not. There’s Ohio State and you can flip a coin between Michigan and Penn State some years, but the Wolverines are right there.

McNamara is perfectly capable of managing the game and leading Michigan to wins against Big Ten opponents. However, when facing the Georgia’s, Alabama’s, and Clemson’s (2021 notwithstanding) of the world, the windows close much faster like facing an NFL team.

McNamara does exactly not have the most zip on his fastball to fit some of those throws in and we saw the limitations it placed on Michigan’s offense.

Additionally, while Michigan football did beat Ohio State with McNamara as the starter, Michigan’s running game pounded the Buckeyes into submission. McNamara threw for 159 yards without a touchdown pass and an interception against the Buckeyes.

One of the top 100 recruits Michigan signed in the past three cycles was quarterback J.J. McCarthy. While McCarthy finished just 7/17, he flashed why he was ranked as a five-star recruit. McCarthy completed a 25-yard pass to tight end Erick All that he placed perfectly in between three Georgia defenders.

That is an example of a throw that McNamara cannot make. McCarthy’s athleticism also gave Michigan’s offensive a better of holding up when it struggled to deal with the pressure from the Georgia front.

Michigan football needs McCarthy for these moments

When facing a more talented team, having an elite quarterback can even out/overcome the talent differential. Alabama had a better roster than Clemson during those epic first two national championship matchups. However, Clemson had Deshaun Watson and Alabama did not. Watson was able to keep Clemson within five points in the first meeting before upsetting Alabama the following year.

LSU had Joe Burrow when it broke through and beat Alabama before going on to win the national championship behind one of the best offenses in modern college football history. Watson and Burrow went on to become first-round picks and have starred in the NFL since while Watson helped Clemson emerge into the juggernaut it has been over the last few years.

McCarthy has the talent to become a first-round pick himself in a few years, but first Michigan needs him to improve his decision-making, master the playbook, and take command of the offense.

McNamara will be Michigan’s QB1 heading into spring practice, but I do expect Jim Harbaugh to open up the competition and Michigan football needs McCarthy to win the job to truly be a national title contender.

That is not a knock on McNamara as Notre Dame faced a similar dilemma with Ian Book the last few years. Book won 30 games as Notre Dame’s starting quarterback, leaving as the winningest quarterback in Notre Dame history.

However, the Fighting Irish were blown out in two appearances in the CFP with Book under center. Book possesses similar size, physical traits, and leadership abilities to McNamara.

McCarthy has the physical talent as well as leadership qualities to be elite in college and beyond. How he prepares this offseason will determine if it is enough for him to emerge as Michigan’s starter in 2022.