ESPN analyst Mike Tannenbaum has over two decades of experience in NFL front offices. And despite this, he has consistently been criticized for a number of questionable takes as of late. But his more recent claim regarding top draft prospects Jayden Daniels and J.J. McCarthy may be his most controversial take to date.
Whether it be Tannenbaum proposing some ridiculous trade ideas for the Kansas City Chiefs or suggesting that Russell Wilson should go and take a backup quarterback job for the New York Jets, he hasn’t exactly shown that he has a great idea of the current NFL landscape.
Things didn’t get much better when it came to his take on Daniels and McCarthy on Monday. During an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, Tannenbaum claimed that McCarthy would have very similar stats as Daniels did this season if he played at LSU instead of Michigan, and that Daniels’ stats would look “a lot closer” to McCarthy’s stats if he instead played at Michigan.
“If he (J.J McCarthy) had played at LSU, what would his stats look like? They would look a lot closer to Jayden Daniels. If Jayden Daniels was at Michigan, his stats would look a lot closer to J.J. McCarthy. And that is where this debate is so much fun and is so interesting.”
"If JJ played for LSU, his stats would look a lot closer to Jayden Daniels. If Daniels played at Michigan, his stats would look a lot closer to JJ's"
I respectfully disagree pic.twitter.com/SbtewJ6AN8
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) March 4, 2024
First of all, Tannenbaum’s statement is impossible to be backed up by any facts and is purely a hypothetical scenario that will of course never happen.
Secondly, it completely discredits the special season that Daniels had this past year for LSU, which earned him a Heisman Trophy.
Who knows, maybe Tannenbaum is correct and this would be the case if the two could have switched places this past season. But we will never know. And the majority of college football fans completely disagreed with his sentiment on social media.
I hope JJ McCarthy has the greatest career in the history of pro football, but this is a foolish statement from Mike. https://t.co/l4gxTFXxNh
— David Cone (@davidadamcone) March 4, 2024
JJ McCarthy threw for over 300 yards just 3 times in his entire collegiate career, and Mike Tannebaum is comparing him to a man that averaged over 300 yards per game for an entire season. 🤦🏽♂️ https://t.co/skix6hdvhW
— TC Collins (@tcfromantioch) March 5, 2024
Mike Tannenbaum really just goes on TV to tell people how bad he was as a GM pic.twitter.com/jID43N9khL
— Jason Wells (@Wellsy_07) March 4, 2024
McCarthy could very well end up being the better NFL quarterback out of the two. He very clearly has all the skills and arm talent to make all the throws at the NFL level.
But to completely revise history like Tannenbaum is trying to do is pretty irresponsible of him. And as some fans alluded to, it could be proof of why he is in an analyst role at ESPN instead of still being in an NFL front office…
