Here's What Woodson Told McCarthy
Following No. 4 Michigan's hard-fought win over Maryland on Saturday, Charles Woodson and JJ McCarthy shared a lengthy exchange on the field.
According to McCarthy, Woodson provided some sound advice as to how he can improve his game moving forward.
"He was telling me everything that was going on with the game and his insights and all of that, but the big thing that stood out to me with him was to use my legs more. God gave me them for a reason. When I'm sitting back there and not seeing anything open, just run. I took that wholeheartedly and that's something that I really need to do. It was just great, just GOAT advice right there."
Unlike his predecessor, McCarthy is a true-dual threat quarterback who can make a defense pay with his legs. Prior to the season, head coach Jim Harbaugh said that McCarthy was running in the 4.5's...though McCarthy later said that he believes its closer to the 4.4's. Either way, he's fast.
Although he's obviously a tremendous talent, McCarthy is still growing into the position and learning how to be a big time quarterback at a big time program. He missed on several deep balls, took a massive (avoidable) hit and fumbled the ball twice.
On the flip side, McCarthy finished his afternoon completing 18-of-26 for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns - bringing his season total to 48-of-60 for 693 yards and five touchdowns (with zero interceptions). As a comparison, veteran QB Cade McNamara was 33-of-53 for 534 yards and three touchdowns through the first four weeks of the 2021 season.
Put simply, McCarthy is doing just fine.
He'll need to get some things cleaned up over the next couple of weeks before conference play gets significantly more difficult, but the good news is that McCarthy still looks really, really good - and still has plenty of room to grow. If the young QB takes Woodson's advice to heart and applies it on the football field moving forward, the potential for the Michigan offense is essentially limitless.
