Rooster can buy the insider word he hears that 'J.J. McCarthy is someone to watch out for' as Commanders' No. 2 pick

So apparently, one of Rooster’s connections told him that the Commanders are looking heavily at J.J. McCarthy – as he got an ‘unsolicited text from a coach I talk to regularly, who has been right on lot of things, that said McCarthy is a guy to watch out for.’

“That matches with what Tom Pelissero said earlier this week, and we know in advance of Michigan's Pro Day, the Commanders specifically had dinner with McCarthy, and there's been a lot of innuendo and rumor tying McCarthy into the Top 4, which people immediately had problems with, and even I thought was a little bit strange, because I didn't view him as a Top 4 prospect,” Rooster said. “I like my quarterbacks to not be totally protected in college and to be able to show me what they're all about going into the NFL, where they're gonna take on tougher defenses and maybe not have as good of an offensive line or offensive system as Michigan did.”

But then, Chris watched the tape, in between his wrestling and soap operas, and…

“We all know the intangibles: his processing, his maturity, his leadership, his character, his athleticism, his work ethic…all of that stuff seems to be really good,” Russell said. “But I started watching some more cut-ups, and I thought his accuracy and what I saw was pretty darn good, and I thought he had pretty good zip.”

So, Rooster asked another assistant coach buddy of his to confirm, and there was concern about McCarthy’s arm strength – which, fairly, Chris imagines the Commanders brass also had to have seen.

“So then, the question becomes, are we gonna take a guy at No, 2 that has a question about arm strength?” Chris said. “It’s interesting, because you would think not, but here's how I would counter that: does J.J. McCarthy have elite arm strength? Probably not. Does he have great arm strength? Probably not. But does Kirk Cousins have elite arm strength? Nope, and you see where I'm getting at. You don't always need elite, off-the-chart skills to be great on the NFL level; you need a lot of the things that J.J. McCarthy checks off on: leadership, character, maturity, athleticism, processing, anticipation. All the nitty-gritty stuff that scouts look for.”