Okay so I wanna talk about how I spent my weekend basically trying to see quarterbacks like Bill Belichick does. Heard him talk about evaluating players once and it stuck with me, right? So I grabbed a huge pot of coffee – seriously, almost burnt myself twice – and settled in to watch JJ McCarthy, this kid everyone’s buzzing about.
First Impressions & Watching Film (Lots of It)
Started simple. Just watched him play. Watched like three, four games straight. My eyes were kinda blurry by the end, no lie. Put on Michigan first. Then went back to some older stuff too. Needed to see the whole picture. No fancy stats at first, just watching him move in the pocket. Does he look panicky? Smooth? Kinda reminded me of my nephew trying to dodge chores sometimes, but way faster.
Here’s where the Belichick imitation started
- Pen & Paper Method: Dumped my laptop notes. Belichick scribbles stuff. Grabbed a cheap notepad I found in the back of my drawer. Felt kinda ridiculous, but hey, immersion, right? Started jotting down little things:
How quick does he get rid of the ball when someone’s breathing down his neck?
What’s his face like after a bad throw? Does he look lost?
Footwork when he’s rolling out – is it clean or messy? - Freeze-Framing Plays: Wore out my space bar. Just kept pausing. Stared at his feet specifically. Belichick loses his mind over footwork apparently. Started noticing weird stuff. Sometimes he’d plant solidly, looked like a statue. Other times? Way off-balance, like he tripped over nothing. Huge difference on where the ball went after that.
- Rewinding: So much rewinding. Watched one play ten times. Why? Because he threw a pass straight at a dude who just dropped it. Looked awful. Rewound it. Saw the receiver absolutely slipped. Not totally McCarthy’s fault! That’s Belichick type stuff – gotta see if the QB just got bailed out or screwed.
Trying to Be Critical Like Bill
He’s ruthless. I tried. Not easy when you kinda like the guy. McCarthy seems tough. He takes hits and gets up. I circled that big time on my stupid notepad. “Tough. Takes Hit.” Real profound.
But where’s the grit? Belichick hates soft QBs. Watched the pressure situations. Championship game? Oof. Not always pretty. He kinda sailed some throws. Made a note: “Deep ball under pressure? Shaky.” Added a big question mark. Not a Belichick smiley face.
The arm strength thing… everyone talks about it. Fine. He’s got zip. But watching close, how is he throwing? Some were like bullets. Others wobbled. Why? Went back. Almost always tied back to those damn feet I was talking about earlier. Clean feet = laser throw. Messy feet = duck. Simple. Kinda obvious now I’m writing it down.
Wrapping Up My “Evaluation”
After a whole bunch more coffee, a stiff neck, and my pen leaking ink all over my hand…
- Like: The toughness for sure. Competitiveness too. Makes some really nice, quick decisions when the first guy is open. Doesn’t overthink it.
- Question: Can he make multiple reads consistently? Does he panic if his first target is covered? Saw flashes, but… need to see more games.
- Worry: Consistency with mechanics. Under duress? Can he keep that footwork solid? That accuracy wobbled bad sometimes when he was moving around. That’ll get eaten alive in the pros.
- Potential: Oh, yeah. You see the flashes of “it.” The talent is dripping off him sometimes. That part made the whole coffee headache feel almost worth it. Almost.
Look, I’m not Bill Belichick. Not even close. I just spilled coffee everywhere trying. But honestly? Doing it this way – stepping away from the stats, focusing hard on the little things like footwork and decision-making after the snap, asking “Why?” constantly – made me understand way more about what the fuss over McCarthy is… and what the red flags might be. It’s messy work. Like my kitchen right now. But man, it’s interesting.