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Legendary Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh has had nothing but the highest praise for his quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Monday, he doubled down on that take, comparing McCarthy to Andrew Luck, who Harbaugh coached at Stanford. Luck is widely regarded as one of the best college quarterback prospects of all time, and excelled at the NFL level before an early retirement.
“I hate to compare, right? But very much like Andrew Luck,” Jim Harbaugh said, per On3. “A quarterback that’s once in a generation. I knew it first with Andrew Luck. Just the way he took the field for his first practice as a true freshman… J.J., first day he walked onto the practice field here at Michigan, that’s what came to mind.”
Of course Harbaugh is going to speak highly of his quarterback, particularly given Michigan's success with McCarthy and goals for this season. “Once in a generation” is extremely high praise however. Not many people outside of the Michigan football building believe McCarthy is the best quarterback in the country. That title goes to USC's Caleb Williams, with guys like Drake Maye, Shedeur Sanders and Michael Penix Jr. in the conversation as well.
McCarthy was a 4-star quarterback in the class of 2021. In 2022, he threw for 2,719 yards and 22 touchdowns, rushing for five more. He's off to a hot start this year, completing 87% of his throws for 558 yards across two games.
J.J. McCarthy is a very good quarterback, but he needs to prove he can take Michigan to the top of the mountain. With a trip to the College Football Playoff on the line last year, he threw two interceptions in a 45-51 loss to TCU.
The Wolverines are as talented as any team in the country this year, and McCarthy looks like a better quarterback than Georgia's Carson Beck. Georgia, of course, is the gold standard of college football and the team to beat this year. Is McCarthy the guy to finally bring Jim Harbaugh a championship? Harbaugh seems to believe he is.
