Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels lead a top heavy quarterback NFL Draft class
By John Blair
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2024 NFL Draft top quarterbacks No. 5 and No. 6
5. J.J. McCarthy, Michigan: A quarterback who improved his draft stock this year is Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy. The main reason for this is he saw his accuracy improve significantly this year after completing 50 percent or less of his passes in 2022 in three of the final six games, he set a career-high this year by nine points completing 74 percent of his passes. In addition to his improved accuracy this year he also improved his feel in the pocket and overall played with better footwork.
One concern scouts will have on him is his play tends to decrease down the stretch. Two years ago he saw a major dip in his accuracy in the last few games of the year and this season he was relied on much less down the stretch.
Another concern NFL teams will have with him is that he still misses too many passes and needs to throw with better touch. Overall, I have a third-round grade on McCarthy but that could improve if he has a strong College Football Playoff performance.
McCarthy Magic 🪄#GoBlue | @jjmccarthy09 pic.twitter.com/36CLa9gka2
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) October 15, 2023
6. Spencer Rattler, South Carolina: A sleeper in this year’s quarterback class is South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler. The former five-star recruit has the raw tools to potentially develop into a starter down the road, and will likely still be on the board come day three of the NFL Draft. One area Rattler will likely impress coaches with at his Pro Day and Senior Bowl is his arm strength. He has one of the strongest arms in this year’s draft class and throws one of the prettiest balls as well.
In addition to his impressive arm strength, he also has the athletic ability to create plays out of the pocket. In order to live up to that starter potential though he will need to cut down on the 20 interceptions he has thrown over the past two years. He will also need to improve his footwork especially when standing in the pocket.