He may not be the starter just yet, but the former Wolverine is still viewed as one of the best players to win the coveted award.
The Minnesota Vikings made a clear investment in former Michigan Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy when they moved up one spot in the 2024 NFL Draft to select him at No. 10 overall. They followed up on that investment late last week on a four-year deal that will pay him $22 million, including a $12.7 million signing bonus and a fifth-year option.
Despite all the good that has come McCarthy’s way this year — being picked in the NFL Draft, his contract, and most importantly to you reading this, winning the College Football Playoff National Championship at U-M — he still appears to be behind Sam Darnold on the depth chart in Minnesota.
However, the former Wolverine is still viewed as one of the top candidates to win a major first-year award in the pros. NFL Draft analyst Lance Zierlein recently published his top-10 candidates to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, and he put McCarthy at No. 4:
You might be wondering why McCarthy is so high on this list, considering he’s entering training camp behind Sam Darnold on the depth chart. It comes down to this for me: Darnold has yet to prove he can be a long-term QB1 in the NFL, with a TD-to-INT ratio of 27:28 dating back to the start of the 2020 season, and he might be on a relatively short leash, depending on how quickly McCarthy picks up the offense in camp. Head coach Kevin O’Connell will run a quarterback-friendly scheme featuring $140 million star WR Justin Jefferson and a highly talented supporting cast. If McCarthy can take over the starter’s role relatively early on, he could end up being very much in the race for this award.
I don’t think it’s any secret that McCarthy has a higher ceiling than Darnold. We already know what to expect out of Darnold — he’s been in the NFL since 2018 and has not been a full-time starter in three years. It would be shocking if McCarthy is not the starter at some point this fall, if not sooner.
If McCarthy ends up winning Offensive Rookie of the Year, he would become just the second former Wolverine to ever win it in the award’s seven-decade existence. The lone winner as of today is running back Anthony Thomas, who won it back in 2001.
In case you’re curious, Zierlein has Jayden Daniels, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Caleb Williams ahead of McCarthy on his list.
What do you think of McCarthy’s placement on the list? Too high? Too low? Let us know down in the comments!