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NFL insider doesn’t rule out Patriots taking J.J. McCarthy with No. 3 pick
J.J. McCarthy has soared up the draft boards over the past week.
The J.J. McCarthy hype train has left the station.
While the Michigan QB and 2023 CFB champion entered this offseason as a projected first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, his stock has soared in short order.
Even though McCarthy’s stats with the Wolverines may not exactly jump off the page (2,991 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, four interceptions), his winning pedigree, leadership, and athleticism have seen him push up the draft leaderboard.
CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson tabbed McCarthy as the No. 3 pick in his latest mock draft — ahead of Marvin Harrison Jr. and fellow QB Drake Maye. The Ringer’s Ben Solak echoed a similar draft-day scenario, with McCarthy going to the Patriots with the third-overall selection.
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“I heard significantly more interest and excitement for how high Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy might go relative to how high LSU QB Jayden Daniels might go,” Solak wrote Monday morning.
For most of the last two months, the Patriots’ draft plans — at least as it pertains to the quarterback position — have revolved around Maye and Daniels, who took home the Heisman Trophy during the 2023 season.
But Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer added on Monday that the Patriots have not ruled out McCarthy as a potential option with their coveted first-round selection.
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“It sounds like the Patriots are exploring all their options at quarterback,” Breer wrote. “So it’s fair to consider [Baker] Mayfield there. I also wouldn’t totally dismiss the idea of McCarthy, maybe in a trade-down scenario or even at No. 3.”
If the Patriots ultimately determine that the gap isn’t that far between McCarthy and a projected top-5 QB like Maye or Daniels, a trade-down scenario could be a viable scenario — especially if New England is able to secure future draft capital.
But given McCarthy’s relatively pedestrian passing stats (especially when contrasted with Maye’s and Daniels’ numbers in college), taking McCarthy at No. 3 overall feels like a reach — especially at such a coveted spot on the draft leaderboard.
Of course, there’s plenty that can happen between now and late April, when the Patriots actually land on the clock in the NFL Draft.
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