There is a certain QB prospect odor wafting out of Gillette Stadium these days.
A pre-draft stench tying the Patriots to former Michigan passer J.J. McCarthy.
Suddenly there supposedly is more than just a sniff of interest from the Eliot Wolf-led collaborative in the young man who helped lead the Wolverines to the national title this winter.
Multiple local media outlets have made dramatic shifts in their coverage of a guy who was once thought of, at best, as the fourth prospect in the QB class well behind the top-tier talents of USC’s Caleb Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. Notable media members with past and present ties to Jerod Mayo’s team pulled an almost overnight 180, from critical dismissal of McCarthy to passionate promotion of him as a possible and potential would-be Patriots’ pick at the top of the draft.
So, do you smell that?
Is that smoke? An indication of a burning attraction between the Patriots and McCarthy, who is apparently making a Mac Jones-like march up draft boards in part thanks to a winning reputation and championship run?
Maybe it is a more pungent smell? One of a red herring? An off-putting stench to try to keep media and fans alike off the trail of what Robert Kraft’s new leadership team is actually trying to accomplish this spring? A late, great bait-and-switch?
Maybe it’s neither. Maybe it’s just the smell of a champion. Aroma of a winner. Appeal of a guy who certainly has some skills and intangibles desired by football coaches and teams.
Whatever that smell is, it has suddenly become the disruptive story of the pre-draft narrative in New England, with the chance to stunningly alter the top of the 2024 NFL Draft.
We know McCarthy is a winner, at least when he has the best offensive line in the country, a dominant running game and championship-caliber team. He managed it all oh so well, which is not meant to be as much a criticism as point of fact.
But does McCarthy have the tangibles it seemingly takes in the NFL in our Lombardi lord’s year 2024? Can he make all the throws? Can he put a team and an offense on his back to lead the way that way?
He never has. Never had to. Never really had the opportunity to.
In 29 games over his final two seasons at Michigan, McCarthy recorded more than 30 passing attempts just four times. Meanwhile, he had 20 or fewer attempts 12 times.
Of course he suffered just a single loss in the period.
Games were played on Jim Harbaugh’s terms for the most part.
By comparison, Maye had 11 games over the last two seasons with 30-plus passing attempts, including eight with more than 40. That compared to just four of 26 games with fewer than 20 throws.
And Daniels had just five of 26 games over the last two years with less than 20 attempts compared to 10 games with more than 30.
So what we have here in McCarthy is a game manager (take your pitchforks and shove ‘em, it is what it is) coming off a reportedly and impressively superb pro day. He certainly has athletic and skill set upside.
But he doesn’t seem to have the resume to warrant consideration in the top three picks.
Yet, here we are. Previously reliable and still seemingly tied-in reporters are hearing “chatter” about McCarthy to the Patriots. They are tactically changing their tune and analysis on him almost overnight.
Something smells. Smells funny, to be more precise.
It feels like this draft has top QB prospects and prospects who may go near the top of the draft. Just like so many classes of would-be franchise passers in the modern chase for talent at the most important position in all of sports. And filtering through the difference is a challenge that will make careers and cost jobs over the long run.
The rumors and smoke and smells around McCarthy to the Patriots are all the talk these days in the interminable, analysis paralysis days leading up to the draft.
They feel like more smoke than fire. Indeed, they certainly could be silly season smokescreens a new Route 1 regime. Rumors at a time when there is an unquenchable thirst for such.
But when it comes to the NFL draft, this time of year you never can really be quite sure.
The leap from silly rumor to draft night reality isn’t always as big a jump as it should be.
McCarthy to the Patriots at No. 3 overall? I want to rule it out. Laugh it off. Dismiss it out of hand.
I really, really want to.