The Broncos are still looking for a quarterback who can be the first to lead them to the playoffs since Peyton Manning. Manning himself thinks J.J. McCarthy could be that quarterback.
Manning said he has talked with McCarthy and knows that there’s mutual interest between the team and the Michigan quarterback who won last season’s national championship.
“I know Denver is very interested in him and it sounded like a place he’d love to come to but it’s a little bit out of his control,” Manning told Denver Sports 104.3.
Manning said he recently had a conversation with McCarthy, and Manning came away impressed.
“I texted him the day after the national championship, I never met him but we invited him to our football camp and [Jim] Harbaugh wouldn’t let him miss a workout so he didn’t get to go. So I just reached out and said, ‘Hey, man, congratulations, wish you the best of luck in your next chapter,’” Manning said. “I guess he thought it was a prank, he never called me back so I texted him Monday from the same number. And he’s like, ‘Oh, it really is you, Yeah, I thought that somebody was pranking me.’ And so I just kind of wished him luck and he asked me some questions. So he called me back and he was impressive to talk to.”
Realistically, it’s unlikely that the Broncos will be able to take McCarthy at No. 12. If they want him they’re going to have to trade up to get him.