What’s the highest a Michigan QB has ever been drafted?

After a stellar three-year career at Michigan, Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy decided to go pro in something called sports. McCarthy may have been every bit the blue-chipper coming out of high school, but his NFL Draft prospects have been polarizing to say the least. He is QB4 on my board for a plethora of reasons, but teams passing on him who need a quarterback inside the top 12 are stupid.

McCarthy projects to be a more evolved version of Brock Purdy coming out. Mr. Irrelevant was one win away from leading the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl victory for the first time in his lifetime. While McCarthy can lead whatever team who picks him to the promised land, where he lands matters. He is not going to bust, but his ceiling will only be reached if he goes to the right situation this spring.

No matter where he ends up, McCarthy is a lock to not only go in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, but is probably a lock to go in the top half of the first round as well. Thus, he should be a top-16 pick, probably a top-12 and very likely a top-six. Regardless of how you may feel about him as a prospect, NFL talent evaluators are infatuated with this guy. He has all the intangibles teams want.

So with that in mind, what is the highest any former Michigan quarterback has gone in an NFL Draft?

NFL Draft: What is the highest a former Michigan QB has been picked?

Entering this year's draft, here are the five highest-drafted quarterbacks out of Michigan all time.

• Jim Harbaugh: 1987 NFL Draft (No. 26 overall to Chicago Bears)
• Steve Smith: 1984 Supplemental Draft (No. 33 to San Diego Chargers)
• Todd Collins: 1995 NFL Draft (No. 45 overall to Buffalo Bills)
• Jim Van Pelt: 1958 NFL Draft (No. 54 overall to Washington)
• Chad Henne: 2008 NFL Draft (No. 57 overall to Miami Dolphins)

You guessed it? McCarthy's former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is the only first-rounder. The Heisman Trophy finalist went to the Chicago Bears No. 26 overall at the tail-end of the first round way back in 1987. While he had some success there, Harbaugh is best known for his four-year run quarterbacking the Indianapolis Colts in the mid-1990s. Harbaugh is in that franchise's Ring of Honor.

Although McCarthy would actually do quite well playing for either the Colts or his hometown Bears, neither are potential landing spots for him. This is because the Colts used the No. 4 overall pick on former Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson last year. He has massive bust potential, but so much freaking upside. As for Chicago, they are taking Caleb Williams out of USC with the No. 1 overall pick.

Overall, it is kind of shocking that Michigan has not had the greatest draft history at quarterback. This is Tom Brady's alma mater after all, but even he was only a former sixth-round pick. While I knew that Todd Collins and Chad Henne were second-round picks, even being a day-two pick is such a rarity for former Michigan men who played quarterback. The Big Ten was not the league to go in the first round.

That all is going to change with conference realignment and college football being so passing heavy.