So, Kyler Murray has signed a one-year deal with the great Kevin O'Connell, great coach,
great offensive coach. This is where Sam Darnold's career was reborn. They signed him
for a year. And what does that mean for JJ McCarthy? I think we all know. JJ McCarthy, and
I'm not saying it's easy to figure out first-round, second-round quarterbacks. I know
it's hard. But JJ McCarthy is a cautionary tale for every general manager in the NFL.
Beware of two things, the game manager at the college level, and beware of
when the number one trait for a college quarterback is, he's a winner. That's what they
said about Tebow. That doesn't mean anything. OK. These game-managing college quarterbacks
usually come from Alabama or Ohio State, Georgia, these football factories where they
can turn and hand it off, throw 23 times a game. JJ McCarthy, he came from the best
Michigan team probably ever. 13 guys were drafted, stacked roster, and he only threw for
22 touchdowns. Joe Burrow played on a stacked roster at LSU. He threw for 60. If you're
gonna play on a roster like that, you don't have to carry the team, but I better see like
45 touchdowns, 55 touchdowns. Every quarterback in JJ McCarthy's class, every
everyone, Bo Nix, Jaden Daniels, Michael Pennox, Drake May, Caleb Williams, every other
first-round quarterback, every other one, USC, Oregon, North Carolina, LSU,
some good programs, they had to throw for over 300 yards a game. JJ McCarthy threw for under
200 yards a game. That's the first warning sign. And the second, and I, you know, patting
the back time, I said, he is the one quarterback coming in this 1st-round draft
class. I don't think it's gonna work. The other thing was, first of all, he didn't have
any great wow traits. Caleb Williams, wow, horsepower. Uh, Bo Nix, toughness,
durability, athletic ability, Jaden Daniels, kind of a Lamar Jackson type player. Drake May,
big size, big arm, Pennick's, good arm. JJ McCarthy is a winner. A
winner is how you should describe a poker player or a lawyer. If you tell me a lawyer and
the guy's a winner, it's kind of all I need to know. Poker player. Guy's a winner. Sits down
at the table, that's Phil Hellmuth. That's all I needed to know. We don't talk about any other
athlete and say he's a winner. We don't draft cornerbacks. Left tackles,
guards, running backs and say, well, you know, production was so, so, but he is a winner,
doesn't mean anything. Same with college basketball players. Nobody's drafting Darren
Peterson, number one, because he's a winner. They're looking at his talent and his traits.
So, I just, I don't buy the he's a winner thing. Now, you could say, well, Fernando
Mendoza, Colin, yeah, he, he won because he's a killer, cause he's great
late. Because he beat Miami almost single-handedly in the 4th quarter. He did the
same with Penn State on the road. That's different. He was asked to carry a good roster.
That JJ McCarthy, Michigan roster wasn't a good roster. It's the best Michigan roster ever,
13 guys drafted. That's an Ohio State, Bama, Georgia, LSU level roster. And did he carry it?
Yeah, at times he did. He did against Miami late. He did against, uh, you know, Oregon 4th
quarter. So, there's a difference. And, you know, you can say what you want about Kyler
Murray. Again, he and Sam Darnold have been the two quarterbacks that I have always liked
more than the market because they have wow traits. His elusiveness, A+, wow. His deep ball,
excellent. And for the record, since he was drafted, Kyler Murray. Among active active
quarterbacks, top 10 in touchdown passes. So he's actually productive with experience and
elusive and a great deep ball. He's gonna win this job, but it's a cautionary tale. Be very
careful about, he's a winner or Game manager at college.
It just doesn't translate to Sunday football.