Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh has been talking up his Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy as the top signal caller in the draft, which probably won’t result in McCarthy being the first player selected this month but there’s been a lot of buzz about someone trading up to take him early in the first round.
That buzz also has Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye being the top three players off the board and McCarthy’s frequently mentioned as a fourth overall selection after someone trades with the Cardinals. Harbaugh’s Chargers pick fifth and they have Justin Herbert, so four quarterbacks getting taken would leave them with their choice of any player at another position.
Harbaugh touched on that possibility at a press conference this week.
“There’s talk of four quarterbacks going in the first four picks,” Harbaugh said, via the team’s website. “If that happens, then that pick really becomes like the No. 1 pick in the draft. If four quarterbacks go in the first four picks, that’s not like the fifth pick anymore, that’s like the No. 1 pick in the draft for teams that have a great quarterback already. . . . It’s such a great pick, everybody can analyze that. Doesn’t take a lot to understand that there’s some real possibilities. We’re really, super excited about that pick so we’ll see how it plays out.”
Whether four quarterbacks come off the board or not, there are going to be a lot of options for the Chargers with the fifth pick even before getting into the chance they could trade it for other assets. That’s not a bad sport for Harbaugh to be in for his return to the professional ranks.
