Former Michigan Wolverines star J.J. McCarthy receives head-turning prediction

The Michigan Wolverines' fan base loved former quarterback J.J. McCarthy. He put together a great career with the program and ended that career by leading Michigan to a national championship. McCarthy is never going to be forgotten in Ann Arbor.

With that being said, McCarthy was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was expected to become the face of the future for the Vikings, but no one knew how quickly that would happen.

Ahead of his rookie season, the former Wolverines' standout went down with a knee injury during the preseason. That knee injury kept him out for the entire year.

During the 2025 NFL offseason, Sam Darnold left town to sign a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks. Instead of pursuing another option to allow McCarthy more time to learn from the sideline, Minnesota has decided to hand over the keys to the castle. McCarthy is the clear-cut starting quarterback for the Vikings at this point in time.

McCarthy is more than ready for the challenge. He has been very confident ahead of the season, but no one knows quite what to expect from him.

Jonathon Macri of Pro Football Focus has shared a head-turning prediction for the Michigan star. He believes that McCarthy is primed as the biggest breakout candidate on the Minnesota roster.

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"The Vikings felt comfortable moving on from Sam Darnold this offseason following his breakout performance in 2024, and McCarthy’s potential is a big reason why," Macri wrote. "McCarthy has yet to play a snap in the NFL, but Kevin O’Connell’s offense is set up for a quarterback to succeed, especially considering the full complement of offensive weapons for which McCarthy can get the ball to in order to help him adjust to the NFL."

In his final season with the Wolverines, McCarthy completed 72.3 percent of his pass attempts for 2,991 yards, 22 touchdowns, and just four interceptions. He also picked up 202 yards and three more scores on the ground.

There is no question that McCarthy is capable of being a franchise quarterback in the NFL from a pure talent and potential perspective. Now, he'll need to show that he can do it on the field.

Michigan fans will be rooting for McCarthy just as hard during the 2025 season as they did when he played in college. Hopefully, he can live up to the hype and prove that the Vikings made the right decision by turning to him as their starter.