Former Michigan QB pushes back on latest J.J. McCarthy slander

There are a lot of J.J. McCarthy haters out there and you can count Colin Cowherd among them.

The host of "The Herd," a sports talk show, came after the former Michigan football quarterback on Wednesday, talking about the Vikings quarterback situation, saying in short, "(J.J. McCarthy) does not have a big arm."

Of course, anyone who has watched him play, and isn't wearing rival-colored glasses, could tell you that's not accurate. Hell, just watch the first touchdown pass of McCarthy's Michigan football career, which was part of a clip of highlights that Devin Gardner posted on X to refute Cowherd's point.

J.J. McCarthy is the subject of unfair criticism

People love to categorize J.J. McCarthy as a "hand-off specialist." Yet, he is known as the greatest Michigan football quarterback of all time (in college) by Jim Harbaugh and basically everybody else.

In addition to losing just one game as a starter, McCarthy completed 67.6 percent of his passes with 49 touchdown passes (44 in his two seasons as a starter). Yes, he played in a run-heavy offense, but McCarthy was elite on third down, and whenever he was asked to carry the offense, such as in the 2022 game against Ohio State when he accounted for 290 yards and four touchdowns, inlcuding three TD passes of 45 yards or more, he was able to do it.

Not to mention the legendary touchdown drive McCarthy engineered in the Rose Bowl to come back and beat Alabama in the College Football Playoff.

I wish that Michigan had unleashed McCarthy more.

The Wolverines should have allowed him to air it out more, but that's not Jim Harbaugh's style. As a junior, though, not only did he lead the Big Ten in completion percentage (72.3), he also led the conference in yards per attempt (9.79), and passer rating (167.9).

You don't average nearly 10 yards per pass attempt as a hand-off specialist. McCarthy also had two touchdown passes compared to one interception in his only preseason game for the Vikings after he was selected 10th overall in the 2024 NFL draft.

Beyond all that, McCarthy tested incredibly well at the NFL combine. He threw the ball 61 MPH, so the idea that he doesn't have a big arm is just foolish. Only Josh Allen and Joe Milton (62 MPH) have thrown it harder than the Vikings QB since 2008.

The dude has an arm. He's an incredible athlete, posting the sixth-best three-cone drill in the entire combine, plus, he's a winner. If you don't believe me, just watch the clip put together by Gardner.

It speaks for itself.