The Michigan football team could be without future starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy until July, as the former five-star recruit reportedly injured his throwing shoulder and will need to have surgery.
Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan football program could be without five-star sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy for some time.
There are rumors circulating that McCarthy has suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder and would need to have surgery. The expectation is that he would miss all of spring practice, but would be back in time for fall camp in July. If there is any upside to this, it is that incumbent Cade McNamara will get all the first-team reps to be in an even better position to win the starting job.
While the Wolverines lost Josh Gattis to the Miami Hurricanes, Michigan did promote quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss from within to be the team’s new offensive coordinator, so at least there is some continuity in the building when it comes to coaching up the quarterbacks.
Michigan football: J.J. McCarthy to have shoulder surgery, miss spring practice
The Wolverines might be coming off their best season in a generation, but they simply were not dynamic enough offensively to hang tough with the Georgia Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff. Though McNamara has been more than serviceable under center for Harbaugh, McCarthy is the one quarterback on the roster that gives the Wolverines hope to regularly beat Ohio State.
Again, it is not the end of the world for him to potentially miss spring practice, but he will be that much further behind when it comes to challenging McNamara for the starting job. Even worse, McCarthy is not going to be taking part in spring practice to push McNamara to become a better quarterback. Fortunately, McCarthy is not expected to miss any games with this shoulder injury.
While Michigan is expected to pull back a bit after last year, great quarterback play will make a difference in the Wolverines’ quest to repeat as Big Ten champions. This position group does have experience, but so do the likes of their three biggest division rivals: Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State. McCarthy could be a total game-changer, but thankfully, they still have McNamara.
Here is to a speedy recovery for the up-and-coming star quarterback for the Michigan program.
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