JJ McCarthy Impresses at Pro Day

The Minnesota Vikings head coach and general manager may not have been there to see it for themselves, but Michigan Wolverines quarterback JJ McCarthy looked really good at his pro day.

Why the king of Ann Arbor decided to work out Friday in an outfit that looked more like it was chosen for a Backstreet Boys photo shoot from the year 2000, we may never know. But his throws inside the Michigan practice facility were nearly as bright as his threads. Very much on target, too.

Video: JJ McCarthy from Michigan's Pro Day on Friday

Footage by MGoBlueTV pic.twitter.com/Li1tiO5Avs

— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) March 22, 2024

JJ McCarthy gets rave reviews at pro day

He hit his short throws, medium throws and, most impressively, his deep balls. Now, his deep balls won’t remind you of that time Patrick Mahomes threw a football 78 yards during his Texas Tech Pro Day in 2017. JJ looks like he is throwing mostly full throttle at about 60 air yards.

Related: Don’t Sleep on Minnesota Vikings’ Interest in Jayden Daniels

Nonetheless, pretty much everything was on target. According to Matt Miller (ESPN), the session lasted about 25 minutes and McCarthy had just two clear misses in that time. Miller lauded everything from JJ’s touch, to his “zip” and, yes, that deep ball too.

JJ McCarthy throwing session lasted about 25 minutes. It was clean—just two clear misses. He showcased zip and touch while hitting a lot of deep routes. He told me he wanted to show his touch placement and did well there. McCarthy has easy power and velocity.

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) March 22, 2024

Those things are important because McCarthy has haters on both sides of the arm strength argument. There are some who have concerns about his “zip” and deep ball, where as others only saw his arm strength, when they turned on his tape from last season, raising concerns about his ability to put touch on the football.

“I just wanted to showcase the questions they had about out-breakers to the left and putting some air on the deep posts, stuff like that. I felt like I did that today. I’m pretty confident with the showing I put out there.”

JJ McCarthy after throwing at Michigan pro day (quote via The Athletic)

Do Minnesota Vikings want McCarthy?

We do not know what Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell thinks or what he will be looking for when he and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah work the 21-year-old out privately next week.

We just know they like JJ McCarthy and it will cost a lot less to trade up and get him (likely at pick four or five) than it will to get into the top-3, to snag other top QBs they’ve been linked to, like Drake May and Jayden Daniels.