This was going to go up yesterday and then a nuclear bomb dropped. For the survivors picking out from the wreckage, hopefully this post serves as a pick-me-up. So, yeah: on Saturday Michigan picked up their most-touted quarterback recruit since Drew Henson when IL QB JJ McCarthy committed while on a visit. Let's play the feud!

GURU RANKINGS

Rivals	ESPN	24/7	Composite
NR	NR	5*, #19 overall #2 Pro QB, #1 IL	N/A

This far out only 24/7 is willing to offer a ranking. FWIW, the guy in front of McCarthy is Sam Huard, Brock Huard's nephew. You are old! Unless you are not.

As you're about to see in the next section, 24/7's ranking is unlikely to be an outlier. McCarthy did one of the Rivals-exclusive camps and came out of it with a ton of effusive praise.

SCOUTING

McCarthy is in the burgeoning tradition of Harbaugh quarterbacks who are pocket passers with at least decent wheels. In McCarthy's case the comparison everyone wants to make is currently on the roster. Barton Simmons said he was in the "Shea Patterson mold" in an analysis post after the commit:

"In today's game where quarterbacks need to be able to play outside the pocket and show athleticism and throw off platform and use different arm angles, I think those are things that he's really capable of,” …watch what he's doing athletically, the arm talent, the accuracy, I think the complete picture is pretty compelling.”

Allen Trieu also brought up Patterson as a comparison point:

…good velocity. Snappy, quick release. …understands the game and takes great care of the football. …Will make throws with pressure in his face. …shows escapability in the pocket … able to throw on the move and use different angles to get passes off around pressure. Velocity does not suffer when he does not have time to set his feet. …needs to add weight

…one of the most talented quarterbacks to come through the Midwest in the last several cycles. …not too dissimilar to Shea Patterson as far as styles of play.

And Rivals had an entire article comparing the two, with the sophomore in high school apparently having the edge:

McCarthy is one of the most accurate passers you'll ever see and he's just a sophomore. As good as Patterson was in that area in high school, McCarthy is better. Both are also gunslingers. They'll run around outside of the pocket, throw against the grain and make catchable throws from a variety of arm angles.

Comparing a sophomore season to Patterson's entire high school career and saying the sophomore is better sounds like fluffy hyperbole, but it's not limited to just that piece. Steve Wiltfong called McCarthy "maybe the nation's most accurate QB regardless of class," and one of their rankings guys is all about it:

In going through the 2021 QB's for our last Top247 release, I thought McCarthy had the most impressive sophomore season of the bunch https://t.co/OQHWyss6DK

— Charles Power (@CharlesPower) May 11, 2019

And it takes one glance at a number to confirm McCarthy's accuracy both inside and outside the pocket led to a 77% completion percentage last year. That seems impossible unless his high school's offense runs a truly astounding number of screens. Even if they run the maximum number possible that's still an eye-popping mark.

McCarthy was the QB MVP of the Rivals camp he attended, beating out a number of guys a year older than him. There, too, accuracy was the primary refrain. Helmholdt:

… combination of velocity and accuracy that is rare in upperclass prospects …put footballs in places that looked unreachable.

Friedman:

…[threw] marvelous passes consistently despite frigid temperatures and untimely winds. …delivers smooth passes with zip and touch, depending on the throw. He's got plenty of arm strength to make accurate throws and his ball placement is uncanny -- on both short throws and downfield.

Brandon Brown:

…great frame, big hands and is a plus athlete and really can make every single throw that a QB needs to make. He was able to place the ball in small windows, throw with a lot of velocity and also put great touch on the deep ball.

Friedman also reported that WRs were "cutting in line" to make sure they got matched up with McCarthy. He got an invite to their Opening equivalent and is a "sure bet to be a nationally ranked quarterback," which is a phrase that implies he'll be way up their rankings even if it literally means nothing.

In addition to the whiz-bang stats and camp accolades, McCarthy has a couple of traits that should endear him to Harbaugh and make him well suited for the gunmetal gray skies of late November. One is that he's used to cold temperatures and high winds. The Rivals camp reports went out of their way to note that it was a gray, windy day in which McCarthy excelled.

The other is toughness. McCarthy grew up playing hockey and that mentality apparently stuck:

"I injured my thumb on the Wednesday before the state title game. I just got my thumb caught in one of the linemen's helmet on my follow-through. I was able to tape it up and glove it and that worked well enough that I was able to still throw the football. The hardest part of playing with the thumb was catching snaps, otherwise I handled it. I had surgery on my thumb a few days after the state title game and everything went really well with the surgery."

McCarthy was 15/24 for 201 yards, in the state title game, a few days after injuring his throwing hand so badly it would later need surgery. Okay. His QB coach credits his background for his slippery pocket-breaking ability:

“He’s got an uncanny ability to put balls into small windows even when he’s not in the ideal situation." …

"He wasn’t a very big kid playing hockey, and I think probably one of the things that has benefited him playing quarterback is being able to skate away from guys who are probably coming to just clean him up," Holcomb said. "He’s got very good instincts to move in the pocket and almost anticipate when things are breaking down. He also has good patience to stay in there and let things develop even when there’s a lot of chaos around him.”

And while he does reference Patterson he's not settling for just that. Go big or go home, sir:

…Holcomb sees the comparisons between McCarthy and Michigan's starting quarterback, Shea Patterson.

"(Shea's) a thrower that just has the ability to move well, buy himself time, he moves great in the pocket, and J.J. is kinda the same way," Holcomb said. "McCarthy reminds me of a guy that throws like (Drew) Brees but moves around like Baker (Mayfield).”

That would be the greatest quarterback in the history of football. This is what I now expect.

[After THE JUMP: highlights you should actually watch]

OFFERS

Iowa State offered McCarthy when he was in middle school, and from there the offers poured in. The one off note in McCarthy's recruitment is how it unfolded. He was supposedly favoring Notre Dame; Notre Dame took CA QB Tyler Buchner. He was supposedly favoring Ohio State; Ohio State took PA QB Kyle McCord. Whether that was faulty intel or schools choosing guys currently ranked about 80 spots lower than him is unknown.

HIGH SCHOOL

Nazareth Academy has sent a smattering of players to high-level schools, most notably Notre Dame CB Julian Love. They've also had a handful of three-stars who've ended up at mid-tier Big Ten programs or Rutgers.

STATS

Absurd: as a sophomore in high school McCarthy had 39 TDs, 4 INTs, and a 77% completion rate(!!!). As you'll see in the highlights below, there were a ton of deep shots in those completions. With almost 3500 yards on 240 attempts, McCarthy had 14.4 YPA. Yowza.

FAKE 40 TIME

I did not see one. 

VIDEO

Yes, okay, all right. Yes.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Sounds like it's when, not if, with McCarthy. The stats and scouting both point to a can't miss prospect.

When McCarthy arrives Michigan will have an incumbent starter who's likely to be very good and therefore not displaceable. Who that is will determine how quickly McCarthy can get on the field. In the likely event that it's Dylan McCaffrey, McCarthy would be fighting for the starting job as a redshirt freshman. Since it is 2019 and quarterbacks bolt at the drop of the hat I would not expect at least one of the guys who would be older than him to be around.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

McCarthy is Michigan's second 2021 commit; he joins instate lineman Giovanni El-Hadi, who is a top 100 player on 24/7 currently. Nailing down a five-star QB this early often pays off as recruits flock to the banner. One guy in particular to keep an eye on is IL WR AJ Henning, a top 100 slot guy in 2020 who was also on campus this weekend. Guys tweet out "COULD I COMMIT TO THIS SCHOOL?!?!?" without it meaning much but Henning did it twice, so… eh, maybe? MD OL Ryan Linthicum, who's the top center in the 2021 class, also tweeted out the eyes emoji.