When I would go on vacation at my old job I always came back to an inbox full of problems. Jim Harbaugh goes to South Africa and comes back to land what could be one of his all-time highest ranked quarterbacks, should his rankings (#19 overall, #2 QB) stay where they currently are.

2021 IL QB JJ McCarthy pulled the trigger on Saturday and in process created a point person for soon-to-be juniors who might be wondering what kind of talent they will be surrounded by should they choose Michigan. Barton Simmons, 247’s director of scouting, thinks that the timing of McCarthy’s commitment will benefit Michigan down the road.

“Already this camp cycle, he was at The Opening regional, and he blew our guys away that saw him in person in terms of his consistency and accuracy,” Simmons said. “And the more he goes to these national events with a Michigan hat on or a Michigan towel or whatever, kids are going to associate it with the Michigan class and what he can do and see him shred defenses and defensive backs up, I think that’s an allure to being a part of the class.

That article goes on provide an interesting tidbit of information on class building (and prospect identification by the staff), pointing out that quarterbacks have committed to Michigan an average of 9.8 months before signing since Harbaugh took over the program.

McCarthy sounds like a guy well suited to taking on the role of class representative, too. This Steve Wiltfong piece is full of quotes I could pull to illustrate how into Michigan he is. Quotes like this one:

“Michigan checked all of the boxes for me,” McCarthy told 247Sports. “Literally all of them.

“The intensity of the program, the top of the line education, the coaching staff is awesome, and it felt like home.”

The runner up—and it was close—is a quote McCarthy gave about knowing his choice would be Michigan for a while now, so it didn’t matter when he announced, all that mattered is that the time has come for him to be a Wolverine. This all sounds like a Heartbeat Of The Team-type out of central casting, which I’m taking as positive.

This image of McCarthy is strengthened thanks to this Sam Webb article that quotes McCarthy’s father, who tries to give him some advice about grinding and never stopping his hard work and is answered by some motivational poster-like stuff from McCarthy. They then move on and discuss how he has a great feel for how to lead, having done so as a sophomore on a team of upperclassmen. And that’s before we even get to any of the computer-guided-arm-cannon stuff.

[After THE JUMP: the computer-guided-arm-cannon stuff, plus who McCarthy is recruiting]

Brandon Brown talked to Rivals’ Josh Helmholdt about what McCarthy brings to the table. Helmholdt lauded McCarthy’s throwing motion and arm and accuracy and didn’t have a negative to discuss even when Brown asked him for one.

"The best throwers of the football do not always make the best quarterbacks, so does McCarthy have the remaining intangibles to be a great quarterback? The answer is we do not know for sure, but every indication is that he does," Helmholdt said. "He is one of the most positive and upbeat prospects I have covered, but does not seem to be complacent or satisfied. The moxie and the mindset appear conducive to taking advantage of his physical tools."

McCarthy has a massive arm and loves to run, describing himself as a pro-style passer with dual-threat capability. His dad says he likes to lower his pads and try to grind out a few extra yards, too. This all comes together at the end of Webb’s article as dad gives him a familiar player comp.

“He studied more Shea Patterson film in the past three years than any other quarterback,” Mr. Patterson stated. “When he went down and trained at IMG, Shea was at IMG. So, J’s game emulates what Shea is. So, we watch Shea’s film. We watch Shea and what he does and what he’s great at because that’s the kind of game that J brings to the table.”

Brandon Brown of The Wolverine made the same comparison and went into detail in this piece. The primary differences in the two are physical frame, McCarthy’s accuracy (better than Patterson), and Patterson’s running (shiftier than McCarthy).

The Patterson comparison is apt. He told Rivals they have the same moxie on the field and wondered out loud why he wouldn’t want to put himself in the same position Shea is in. Obviously Patterson will be gone by the time McCarthy arrives on campus, and thus a bigger piece of why McCarthy committed necessarily is the offense Josh Gattis plans to run.

Sam Webb wrote a piece that details what McCarthy’s father liked about Jim Harbaugh, Josh Gattis, and quarterbacks coach Ben McDaniels. The whole thing is just effusive praise for the three, but a couple of comments stood above the rest. McCarthy did a nice job of synthesizing all the Gattis comments across multiple articles into one easily linkable soundbite: “I think for someone to get into that system right now would be one of the smartest decisions they ever made if they have dreams of going to the NFL, because I think Coach Gattis is going to change everything around.”

The other thing that stood out to me was McCarthy’s answer to a question about Ben McDaniels. Gattis and Harbaugh and the way they recruit come up in articles all the time, but McDaniels is a little bit of a question mark due to his newness to the position at Michigan and M already having their 2020 quarterback committed. Not so for the McCarthy family.

“Wow,” Mr. McCarthy replied when asked about his son’s future position coach. “He’s a big reason why. The conversations that I know J.J. has had with him and I’ve had with him (were impactful). He comes from an NFL background. The way he has broken down film with J when he’s been there on visits, as well as his consistent communication… there has been no pressure with the way he communicates with J. It’s very educational, very smart, very football focused, with the care of … he cares about JJ as a person and our family.”

With McCarthy’s reasons for verbally committing to M clear, he moves on to his next task: getting others to do the same. Michigan has only one other commit in the 2021 class, MI OT (and fellow Top100 player at the moment) Giovanni El-Hadi. McCarthy spoke with Rivals after committing and vowed to help build more than just his class.

“I am going to recruit not only the ‘21 class, but the 2020 and 2022 because those are going to be my teammates too. I’m always going to be okay if they go to a different school, but once I say I am going to Michigan it is going to be a little difficult to let some of my close buddies go anywhere else.”

One of those friends? 2020 IL WR AJ Henning, who happened to be taking an unofficial visit with his parents while McCarthy and his parents were on campus this past weekend. Henning is a composite top 100 player, a four-star currently ranked #77 overall and #15 at WR. So, uh, that quote above and both being on campus at the same time is pretty interesting, isn’t it?

Henning spoke with 247’s Steve Wiltfong after his visit. The last time Henning visited was January, and this time Josh Gattis was able to use spring film to show Henning how they would use him in the offense. Henning said Gatttis’ plan is to use him in the slot, on the outside, and occasionally from the backfield, calling it a “great fit.” 

There’s a little bit of tea leaf reading that can be done from the visits Henning told Wiltfong he will take. Michigan clearly made a good impression, as they are currently the only school with which he has scheduled an official visit, which will take place near the end of June. Beyond that, he also plans to be on campus for a game at some point this fall. The only other school that Henning told Wilfong he will definitely take an official to is Notre Dame. Whatever Henning told Wiltfong made him comfortable enough to cast a Michigan crystal ball. Trepidation is natural when Georgia is still involved and Wiltfong's is the only non-ND crystal ball, but it's Wiltfong. Michigan appears to be in very good position.

Like, very good position.

"Me and him plan on going to the same school together," McCarthy said with a big smile during the Rivals Camp in Cincinnati. "That's some good scoop right there."

McCarthy told that to Brandon Brown at a camp that took place two weeks ago and things can always go sideways in a hurry (hello, basketball), but I’ll embed their highlights here because you could use something nice for a change.

McCarthy:

Henning: