The Minnesota Vikings are the consensus No. 1 destination for Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who has climbed from second-round prospect to potentially the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft.
The charismatic 21-year-old has impressed in interviews and has the marks of a winner with his former coach Jim Harbaugh serving as his leading hype man.
Taking the temperature on McCarthy at the NFL owners’ meetings in Orlando, Florida, last week, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that the most popular answer from team executives on who the Washington Commanders will take with the second pick was McCarthy.
McCarthy is certainly a candidate for pre-draft hype. His efficiency as a passer (49 career touchdowns to 11 interceptions in college), his winning record (27-1 all-time at Michigan) and an undefeated national championship run last season are all reasons to select him in the first round.
However, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis admitted he was dubious of McCarthy going second overall. He sought a second opinion from an AFC executive, who called the latest McCarthy buzz a “media creation.”
“I’ve talked to a lot of scouts Alec, and I think a lot of that, him being picked that high, is [media creation],” Lewis said on KFAN on April 1, relaying the executive’s message.
While McCarthy at No. 2 is a questionable reach, he has worked his way into top-five conversation. A few spots later in the draft may not seem a big deal, but it be a matter of saving the Vikings a future first-round pick if McCarthy is their guy and plan to go to any lengths to land him.
A team more willing to trade down like the Arizona Cardinals at No. 4 overall could be satisfied with the Vikings’ offer of the No. 11 and No. 23 picks with a late-round sweetener.
The three first-round picks the San Francisco 49ers used to climb from No. 12 to No. 3 to land Trey Lance seems to be the rate the Vikings would have to match to switch spots with a top-three team that is in the market for a quarterback.
What do the #Commanders do with the No. 2 pick? I asked Dan Quinn … and then we discussed his answer, on The Insiders. pic.twitter.com/1KZpKEBBR5
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 25, 2024