With the NFL Draft still well over a month away, the conjecture and hypothesizing will continue up to the day of the draft.

As the days move forward, and with the NFL Combine approaching, it's becoming clear that former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy is cementing himself as a first-round quarterback.

NFL Media Analyst Daniel Jeremiah met with reporters on a conference call last week to answer questions about the upcoming draft and, naturally, McCarthy's name and the vast number of draft-eligible players at U-M were brought up.

It's safe to say that Jeremiah really likes what McCarthy brings to the table.

"With JJ I have said he is an acquired taste," Jeremiah said. "When I watched him -- first of all, you are watching TV, and you are like, gosh, they don't ask him to do much. They run the ball. They play great defense. He will manage the game and get them through it and make a couple of plays here and there. When you dig into the tape and really watch it and watch on third downs where they to throw the ball and they do put the ball in his hands, you know, there's a lot to like with him. He has a really, really quick mind. He has a quick release. Just everything he does is real smooth."

"I wrote in my notes that he never gets bored with completions. Some other guys in his class get in trouble big-play hunting. If you are going to get him check-downs or completions, he is just going to -- he is never going to get bored taking those. He can rev it up and drive the ball in the seams. He can extend plays, keep his eyes up.

Jeremiah also provided a player comparison for McCarthy when he was breaking down his game, which included a player that his former collegiate coach, Jim Harbaugh, coached in the NFL ranks.

"When I finished up watching him, I was like, gosh, who does he remind me of?" Jeremiah said. "There's some elements of Alex Smith coming out of college where Alex Smith had a similar build, played the game from the shoulders up really well, and was pretty athletic to get out and make some plays. That was my comp there."

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