JJ McCarthy, the quarterback for Michigan, is performing incredibly well on the money down.
Not too long ago, JJ McCarthy was the clear favorite to win the Heisman Trophy at the betting window. Michael Penix of Washington now holds that position, although McCarthy is still in the running because of his outstanding play during the season. He has been a precise, agile, bold, and composed playmaker. He’s accomplished all of it incredibly well, maybe even peaking during third down.
The phrase “money down” is frequently used to describe third down, and JJ has been profiting from it. Those figures provide as a great example of McCarthy’s effectiveness and precision, and they also help to explain why Michigan has been able to score so frequently.
Third down is the money down for a quarterback, therefore evaluate him based on those stats. Following the Purdue game, Harbaugh stated, “He’s been lights out.”
During his Monday afternoon news conference, Harbaugh went on to discuss McCarthy’s skills on third down and to emphasize how outstanding his junior signal caller has been.
“That has a significant impact on how quarterbacks are evaluated. That’s where the money is,” Harbaugh said once more. “They’re not as skilled at it, or they can change their team. That was something to consider when I was a professional coach and assessing quarterbacks in order to choose them. That was very significant. That was on par with the number of points gained each possession.
Football is the ultimate team sport, as Harbaugh is aware, but he also stated that a quarterback’s performance on third down is more indicative of whether a baseball player will receive a big hit or not, and McCarthy has been receiving big hit after big hit.