NFL Draft: How Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Washington’s Rome Odunze can boost stock

The 2024 NFL Scouting Combine is underway, and prospects across the country are looking to turn heads and enhance their draft stock.

And there are two big-name players, in particular, who RJ Young thinks have a chance to do exactly that: Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy and Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze.

On the latest edition of “The No. 1 College Football Show with RJ Young,” Young explained how McCarthy can showcase his upside at the next level in Indianapolis.

“The thing that I think frustrates us about J.J. is we just don’t know how good he can be. I say this because he needs to show that Michigan ran a predominately power run, gap scheme, duo kind of offense because that’s what the program does. That’s what they’re good at; that’s how they have built their identity, and he needed to work within that. So he needs to show that he can be the scheme when the scheme breaks down, and you know what, there are flashes of this in every game that he played,” Young said. “Either he’s about to get trucked and outrun somebody to the corner, or he throws an absolute dart to somebody that should not be open and gets them to be open. …

“He used to be the dude that was going to throw the ball to the other team. Now, he’s a guy that is making the educated and mature read and was not afraid to live for another play, and that is what you’re going to have to do as an NFL rookie, especially if you are drafted to start. Be J.J. McCarthy, and then everything else will take care of itself; I truly believe that. I don’t think he’s a top 25 player in this draft overall, but I do think that he can be a top-10 pick given what the quarterback position means in the NFL and given what he might be able to display in a combine and Pro Day environment.”

In what was his second season as the team’s full-time quarterback, McCarthy helped lead Michigan to a College Football Playoff Championship, totaling 2,991 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, four interceptions and a 167.4 passer rating, while completing 72.3% of his passes. He also ran for 202 yards and three touchdowns. En route to winning the title, Michigan won the Big Ten for a third consecutive reason, while McCarthy threw for three touchdowns in its semifinal round win over Alabama.

Part of the reason McCarthy’s production was muted is that Michigan’s offense primarily relied on its ability to run the football — which McCarthy was part of. Running backs Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards combined for 1,742 yards and 32 touchdowns on the ground last season and a combined 2,454 rushing yards and 25 rushing touchdowns in 2022. 

McCarthy will be competing with the previous two Heisman Trophy winners (LSU’s Jayden Daniels and USC’s Caleb Williams), UNC’s Drake Maye, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix to be among the first quarterbacks selected in the draft.

As for Odunze, Young sees someone who can be elite at the next level.

“Rome could vault ahead of Marvin Harrison Jr. with one particular metric. If we find out that Rome Odunze is a sub-4.4 40-yard dash guy, it’s gonna be really difficult to say that guy is not as good or better than Marvin Harrison Jr.,” Young expressed. “Now, I’m still gonna go draft Marvin Harrison Jr. because I know more about Marvin Harrison Jr., and I’ve been following Marvin Harrison Jr. since St. Joe’s Prep. Rome Odunze shocked me in 2022 and then came on strong in 2023. He also caught more balls than Marvin Harrison Jr. He also would have been the Biletnikoff Award winner if his quarterback wasn’t so good, and he didn’t have such great help. The thing about Marvin Harrison Jr. is Kyle McCord is not the quarterback that Michael Penix Jr. is … 

“I think if Marvin Harrison Jr. is gone [in the draft], it’s gonna be a race to go get Rome Odunze, and that is the height of my confidence for him. It’s that cut and dried. … I think if Rome runs incredibly quick, then we really gotta have a deep discussion about wide receiver No. 1. That’s gonna help him tremendously because he goes from being a guy that might be drafted late in the first or early in the second [round] to a guy that might get selected in the first 10 picks.”

Odunze totaled 92 receptions for 1,640 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, marking the second consecutive season that he posted 1,000-plus receiving yards. He also had 10 100-plus receiving yard games in 2023. Odunze and the Huskies went 14-0 and won the Pac-12 prior to losing to Michigan in the National Championship.

Odunze is competing with the likes of the aforementioned Harrison — who posted 14 receiving touchdowns in each of the past two seasons and was a 2023 Heisman finalist — and LSU’s Malik Nabers to be the first receiver off the board.

The 2024 NFL Draft is April 25-27 in Detroit.

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