Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. vs. Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy

For the first eight years of its existence, the College Football Playoff National Championship minted future high-end NFL quarterbacks.

Marcus Mariota. Deshaun Watson. Jalen Hurts. Tua Tagovailoa. Trevor Lawrence. Joe Burrow. Justin Fields. Mac Jones. Bryce Young. Aside from Hurts, they’re all first-round draft picks with a mixed bag of success on the NFL level. Indeed, had it not been for the Stetson Bennett vs. Max Duggan matchup one year ago, the title game would still be working on an unblemished streak of at least one first-round quarterback pick appearing in the game. But streaks are made to be broken — and begun again. And come Monday, barring something unexpected, a new streak will launch when Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy face each other in the national title game, then depart for the NFL as likely first-round picks.

The remaining questions: Will McCarthy join Penix in the 2024 NFL Draft, and if he does, which player will come off the board first?

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Apart from title hopes on the line, that’s one of the subplots of Monday’s matchup, featuring a pair of quarterbacks who each have at least one more big stage opportunity to audition for NFL talent evaluators. And the stakes certainly aren’t small, with Penix and McCarthy likely jockeying for the fourth quarterback slot in the next draft, behind the trio of USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye and LSU’s Jayden Daniels.

“They’ll probably settle out at the top of the second tier,” an AFC general manager said of Penix and McCarthy. “Jayden Daniels — if he’s not in the first tier [with Williams and Maye], he’s at the top of the second tier. But I think most will have a first-round grade [on Daniels], so he’s in that first tier.

“Penix and McCarthy, I can see having different opinions with play style preferences and the medical and some other factors. There’s some stuff, some things not to…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-01-05 21:52:05

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