Much like anything with Michigan football and its players, there are a lot of narratives out there that just aren’t true. One of them, coming out of the 2023 national championship season, was that quarterback J.J. McCarthy was a ‘handoff merchant’ and couldn’t throw.
Yet, he went at No. 10 overall to the Minnesota Vikings in the 2024 NFL draft. It turns out, he almost went higher.
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The Athletic did a profile on McCarthy and Vikings quarterbacks coach Greg Holcomb revealed that Chicago Bears general manager, Ryan Poles, nearly ended up taking the former Wolverines star with the No. 1 overall pick instead of USC standout and Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams.
Via The Athletic: (subscription required)
“He was talking about how much they (the Bears) loved J.J.,” Holcomb said. “And said to me, ‘I don’t think people realize how close we were to possibly taking him.’ Obviously, they love (No. 1 pick) Caleb (Williams), but I thought that was interesting.”
McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury in preseason last year but is expected to start this year. He’ll have a tough road with the NFC North going from one of the worst divisions in the NFL to one of the strongest, with an ascending Bears team, a powerful Lions squad, and a perennial playoff team in the Packers.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Bears almost picked Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy over Caleb Williams