Oddsmakers Say J.J. McCarthy Is A Top 5 NFL Draft Pick After Pro Day

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Let the debate begin! One of the toughest prospects to project in the NFL Draft is Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Most evaluators think McCarthy lacks the top-end talent of players like Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye.

However, he played against tough competition in the Big 10 and appeared in back-to-back College Football Playoffs, including a National Championship victory this season. 

Prior to the season, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who had McCarthy as a first-round pick, let alone a Top 10 pick in the NFL Draft. But if you look at the current betting odds, McCarthy is a sure-fire Top 5 selection. 

McCarthy's Michigan tape is often unimpressive. He's a good player, athletic for a quarterback and relatively accurate. He put together good numbers at Michigan, including an incredible leap in completion percentage from his sophomore season (65%) to his junior season (72%). 

According to oddsmakers, an NFL team is going to pick former Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy in the Top 5 of the NFL Draft.

According to oddsmakers, an NFL team is going to pick former Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy in the Top 5 of the NFL Draft.

(Junfu Han/USA Today Network)

Another number that stands out is the number of sacks that he took. McCarthy was sacked 31 times combined in his sophomore and junior seasons. For reference, Caleb Williams took 33 sacks last year alone. 

But whereas McCarthy threw for 2,991 yards on his 332 pass attempts, LSU's Jayden Daniels threw for 3,812 yards on 327 attempts – with an identical 72% completion percentage. 

Still, J.J. McCarthy lit it up throwing for NFL scouts at his Michigan Pro Day, and that has people buzzing about his rise up draft boards. 

Especially his former head coach, Jim Harbaugh. 

All the buzz has oddsmakers believing that he will be one of the first five names called on April 25. 

DraftKings has McCarthy's odds to go #2 overall at +250, his odds for #3 overall at +400, #4 overall at +225 and #5 at +300. If you consider the implied odds of those numbers combined, oddsmakers give McCarthy over a 100 percent chance of being picked somewhere between 2-5. 

Obviously, he's not a 100 percent lock to go in those spots, but bookmakers build the "juice" into those numbers. Still, the odds are clear: oddsmakers believe strongly that a team is drafting J.J. McCarthy in the Top 5. 

I agree, and that's why I have the New England Patriots selecting him at #3 overall in my latest mock draft. 

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to Outkick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named “Brady” because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.