J.J. McCarthy Goes Blue
La Grange Park (Ill.) Nazareth Academy pro-style quarterback J.J. McCarthy announced via Twitter that he has committed to Michigan.
McCarthy was offered by Michigan way back in November of last year and has been high on the Wolverines ever since. He's been to campus a couple of times since then and really bonded well with Jim Harbaugh from the beginning. Once Harbaugh hired Josh Gattis and assigned Ben McDaniels as U-M's quarterbacks coach, McCarthy's interested went up even more.
Despite being just a sophomore, McCarthy has already reeled in more than 30 offers and is going to be in the discussion for five-star status when the time comes. Ohio State was McCarthy's main other suitor but once they landed Kyle McCord, McCarthy shifted all of his attention to the Wolverines.
McCarthy is pledge No. 2 in Michigan's 2021 class, which won't be ranked for some time. He joins Sterling Heights (Mich.) Stevenson offensive tackle Giovanni El-Hadi and gives U-M an offensive centerpiece and leader to build around.
To put it bluntly, McCarthy is a star. He's got good size at 6-2, 180 pounds, is a plus athlete in terms of his movement abilities and has one of the most talented and accurate arms in the country regardless of class. He might be Harbaugh's best quarterback recruit to date and he's landed some really good players in Brandon Peters, Dylan McCaffrey, Joe Milton, Cade McNamara and JD Johnson, who were/are all four-star prospects. As a sophomore last year, McCarthy completed 182-of-240 passes for 3,448 yards, 39 touchdowns and just four interceptions en route to a 7A state championship in Illinois.
A talent like that is a terrific early get for Harbaugh and the rest of the coaching staff. McCarthy has a great personality and should be able to lure a lot of talent with him to Ann Arbor because of his maturity and charisma, but also because he's a really, really good quarterback. Skill players love playing with star QBs and that's exactly what McCarthy is.
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