Excellent discussion guys. Kudos!
My addendum on the subject-
I have tried my best to be agnostic to this point on the prospects because I wanted to take the time to absorb and digest every shred of information that I could find and I didn’t want to shoot my shot prematurely. I have been afraid to make any broad declarations that I didn’t believe I could stand behind and comfortably live with fin the years to come. But, I’m ready to now.
Along the way, over the past couple of months I have watched 3-4 full games of each JD, DM, and JM (alphabetical order). Here is where I have landed:
Jayden Daniels- everything I would like in a QB prospect minus the body type. And that is not a small concern, I honestly fear for his life at the next level. The simple fact that despite his devil may care attitude, he did successfully navigate a very physically demanding level of college competition. Competition that week in and week out most closely mirrors that of the NFL even though, of course, not that of the NFL. To anyone that wants to label him a one-year wonder, I simply offer you Joe Burrows.
Drake Maye- Prototypical size, bionic arm, all-around solid citizen. Sounds good, right? I love all those things but I greatly prefer that they come along with a proven ability to, you know, having better than average throwing ability. When needing a sniper I would rather have one that more than regularly can hit the target rather than the one with the most powerful rifle. Maye has not been impressive playing the position against a considerably lower caliber of opposing talent. He played ACC football not ACC basketball. I look at his teams success during the meat of the college season (the back 1/3) and am not even close to impressed. In ‘22, when he had a better level of surrounding talent and was being touted as a consensus top 2 QB, NC finished that season 0-4. In ‘23, it was 1-3 with the 1 win coming against powerhouse Duke by 2 pts in double OT. We is widely considered to have considerable issues with his throwing stroke, footwork, and short-area accuracy. I also see a higher level of panic in his play under pressure and an innate tendency to move his way toward pressure rather away from it. Bottom line for me is that he could become very good if a team is patient with his development and can coach those things up. But, to me, that is far too big of an if. He does look good in a uniform though.
JJ McCarthy- ok, here is where I will lose the majority of you. He has all of the desirable physical attributes; he is tall, athletic, and has a strong arm. To me he is also the cream of the crop from the neck up of all of the top QB prospects including Caleb Williams. He admittedly was not asked to put Michigan on his shoulders and carry them to victory. He also doesn’t have the volume of throws that the others do, (he clearly needs to become a better play caller). But when faced with an important 3rd and long he produced. He is an alpha-level leader, he is an alpha- level competitor, and he is a winner. He flourished under NFL level coaching in an NFL scheme. Though it would be sacrilegious to tag him with a Brady comparison, compare their mental makeup, their physical attributes, and their on-field statistics while in college and tell me I’m crazy. I dare you. 😉
All that said, my final rankings are:
1. JJ McCarthy
2. Jayden Daniels
3. Drake Maye
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