J.J. McCarthy Left with Good Impression Following Combine Interview with Giants
Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy is currently something of a wild card in that some draft analysts have him as a Day 2 pick and some as a Top 10 pick on Day 1. And while that's still to be determined, something that is at least definite is the New York Giants' interest in McCarthy.
McCarthy was one of several quarterbacks the Giatns met with at last week's combine, and according to the signal caller, they did a really deep dive into his football knowledge by allowing him to draw up plays, an exercise McCarthy said he enjoyed.
"I really loved how I drew up a play that I could run against, or run in every situation, third, down, fourth, down first and second, all that good stuff, and then know the coaches were kind of changing my verbiage and making it their own," McCarthy told reporters t the combine.
"It was really nice to kind of, like, get a feel of, you know, what that offense would be like, and it was actually a lot more similar."
The Giants haven't ruled out drafting a quarterback largely due to concerns about incumbent Daniel Jones's health. Jones is currently recovering from a torn ACL, but he's also had two neck injuries in the last three years, a very real concern for the Giants, given how Jones tends to play the game.
For the Giants, being able to run the offense is one thing; handling the pressure that comes with playing in New York is quite another, and McCarthy said he welcomed the opportunity to give the Giants a glimpse into who he is as a person.
"That's something that a lot of people don't know, and it's not just putting it on a front," McCarty said. "I want them to actually understand that I truly love the game of football, I truly love my teammates, and want to do nothing but win football games."
So what did McCarthy tell the Giants?
"I would say that's who I am, being a team guy. It's not something that I'm going to start being selfish now because I have to sell myself more. I'm gonna sell myself on how much I care about my teammates, and it kind of goes hand in hand with just who I am as a person is being selfless and always caring about the guy next to me more than myself. That's just something that's innate, and I really can't change."
McCarthy pointed to one of the most important games during his last season at Michigan, that being the second half of the Penn State game, as an example of his leadership skills.
"That was a big one that came up," McCarthy said. "It was kind of the ability, especially that example, to let them know, hey, my teammates, the receivers specifically, were not very excited when Coach Moore was saying, hey, it's gonna be one of those games.
"But just letting them know, the process of the approach I took during that time of just saying, 'Hey, guys, this is a huge part in our quest to become national champions.' And not necessarily saying that I was only selfless one, but telling the teams, telling the guys that my teammates were very selfless in that situation."
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