Michigan football's J.J. McCarthy having 'the most fun' he's ever had on the field
J.J. McCarthy has long loved football.
It's one reason the Michigan football quarterback has drawn a smiley face on his hand before every practice and game he's played since October of his sophomore year in high school; a constant reminder to enjoy the process.
For all the winning McCarthy has done in that time — which includes a high school national championship and two Big Ten championships in as many collegiate seasons — never has he gone into a new campaign where he felt quite like this.
"It's been the most fun in my entire life playing football right now," McCarthy said Monday afternoon in Schembechler Hall. "Everything is just clear. Everyone knows what's going on. It's just, you know, things are effortless."
One reason or McCarthy's enjoyment? Michigan has made a concerted effort to pass the ball more in the early days of fall camp.
BLUE'S NUMBER 2! Michigan has highest preseason ranking in USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll history
It's not that he didn't have fun last year's offense. After all, his own father is the one who wore a shirt that said "run the damn ball," but McCarthy sees a slightly-tweaked 2023 attack as an opportunity to unlock a new dimension of the offense.
"In order to bring out the most potential we have as an offense, you got to be balanced," McCarthy said. "Whether you're a human being or whether you're on offense, the more balance you have the more successful you're gonna be. I just feel like that opens us up to different levels of attack and we've been working on it crazy.
"The pass game, we've been more heavy-focused on the pass game these first five practices, so it's been great to be able to get those reps."
From the Wolverines' vantage, they know exactly what they're going to get when they try to move the ball on the ground.
For one thing, they return Blake Corum, a unanimous All-American and Doak Walker Award finalist last year. For another, they bring back his right-hand man, Donovan Edwards, who had 1,191 all-purpose yards and nine touchdowns mostly as a backup.
They're stationed behind an offensive line which was not only named the nation's best each of the past two years in a row, but is thought to be "10 starters deep."
The rushing attack is the primary reason U-M came in ranked No. 2 in the preseason USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll (its highest preseason ranking in the poll's history), however, after two straight CFP losses, it's an improved passing game that U-M thinks will help it get over the hump.
"I can promise you we've passed the ball a lot these last couple practices," laughed senior offensive guard Zak Zinter. "We know we can run he ball when we want, even if they know we're going to run the ball.
"Passing in general has been an emphasis for us this camp and it's been going really well."
U-M passed the ball on just 39.21% of snaps in 2022, 120th nationally, so the next step isn't just deciding to pass more, but finding reliable weapons for McCarthy. That said, he is one of two returning starting QBs in the Big Ten, and does have a season's worth of rapport with starting wide receivers Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson.
While both had ups and downs, each ended their season headed in the right direction. Wilson racked up 125 yards of offense and a touchdown in the college football playoff against TCU, while Johnson had four catches for 160 yards and two scores in a win over Ohio State.
Colston Loveland, recently added to the watch list for the best tight ends in America, is the Wolverines' top mismatch among their pass catchers.
Currently, there are a number of names in the competition to step up as the new No. 3 wide receiver, but U-M's signal caller wasn't afraid to single out one player who he sees as the leader in the clubhouse.
"Tyler Morris, he's gonna make a name for himself this year," McCarthy said of his former high school teammate. "That's like a special connection. Going back to (Nazareth), I used to call him Simba and I'd be Mufasa and stuff like that. I mean, going back to eighth grade and freshman year when we played 7-on-7 together.
"That's my guy, that's my Day 1. It's one of those things where it's like, I feel like I can close my eyes and throw the ball and I know where he's going to be out of his break. Having that with everyone is my goal, but right now with T-Mo, it's money."
Kris Jenkins continuing to cause problems
Michigan has had a number of elite pass rushers in recent years.
On Monday, another name was added to the the watchlist of guys who may go down as U-M's top tier pass rushers; only this time, it wasn't someone who lines up on the edge.
"Kris Jenkins is an elite pass rusher right now," Zinter said. "He's one of those dudes where you're like, alright, I gotta lock into my set here' because Kris is gonna make a move. ... I don't think I'm gonna get a better pass rusher on the interior than Kris Jenks all year."
Known as "the Mutant," Jenkins added more than 20 pounds over the spring and summer to get to his goal weight near 307 pounds by the start of the season.
The senior defensive tackle was added to the Nagurski and Outland watch lists last week as the nation's top interior lineman and best defensive player, respectively, and said earlier this offseason he wanted to reach 10 sacks. While that's something that's only been done 11 times in 143 Michigan seasons, Zinter won't be the one to bet against him.
"He's got the bull (rush), he's got the speed, the power, he's got the twitchiness," Zinter said. "It's a combination of everything. His get off is crazy right now. ... (Defensive tackles) don't get as many sacks because a lot of times they're taking up the guard and the tackle ... but I think he has great leverage too, can get up underneath your pads.
"I mean, he's got everything in the bag right now."
Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football seek more balance on offense, turn to J.J. McCarthy
