J.J. McCarthy finds his ideal home and Joel Klatt's top takeaways from NFL Draft

Another NFL Draft is in the books.

We saw a record six quarterbacks selected in the first 12 picks of the 2024 NFL Draft, something I sensed could happen in the days leading up to the event. Of course, one of the quarterback picks left many of us in shock.

Some of you might have heard my analysis on NFL Network over the first two days of the draft. If you want more on what that experience was like in Detroit, check out the opening of the most recent episode of my podcast, "The Joel Klatt Show."

Now that the dust has settled, let's take a look at some of the quarterbacks picked in the first round, along with some insight. 

When I covered Michigan's spring game for FOX a couple of weeks ago, I ran into McCarthy, as members of the 2023 team were there for their ring ceremony. I got a chance to talk with him for a little bit about the draft process before asking him where he wanted to end up. He told me that he wanted to end up in Minnesota, saying he would "love" to play for the Vikings. 

Lo and behold, McCarthy's wish came true. The Vikings didn't need to trade up into the top five to get him, only moving up one spot from No. 11 to select the Michigan quarterback with the 10th pick. 

That came after the Vikings, along with the New York Giants, made a push to land the No. 3 pick to likely select Drake Maye, as we learned during the night on the NFL Network desk. After that happened, a good, ol' fashioned staredown between the Vikings and Giants took place, with Minnesota successfully calling New York's bluff that it wouldn't draft McCarthy with the sixth pick.

The Vikings' successful bluff-calling was great news for McCarthy. He'll be in the best situation out of all the rookie quarterbacks to go and succeed right away. 

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