Michigan Football: Who's Starting At Quarterback Next Season?

There are a lot of quarterbacks on Michigan football’s roster. Wilton Speight had a pretty good season last year, but is he a solidified starter again?

Who’s going to be the quarterback when Michigan football opens against the Florida at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sept. 2?

Wilton Speight, of course, unless he’s injured in spring ball or summer practices. With a full season of solid—and occasionally brilliant—football behind him, Speight is the natural choice to be under center when the new season begins, right?

I think so, too, but looking at Michigan’s roster going into next season, and looking at head coach Jim Harbaugh’s non-stop recruiting at the quarterback position, you’d think that the answer is still in doubt.

Michigan is currently carrying seven quarterbacks on its roster. Senior Shane Morris announced in January that he’s transferring, but incoming freshman Dylan McCaffrey is now enrolled and ready to go. And that means Michigan has seven tall flame-throwers on the sideline.

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Isn’t that similar to what other major college football programs do?

Well, not exactly. Take Ohio State, for example. Or Clemson, if you’d like. Or even Alabama. They’ve each got four quarterbacks on their rosters. And I’m guessing that every one of them is at least a three-star recruit who came out of high school ready to play at the college level.

So, the question is: Why does Harbaugh want to have such a large group of quarterbacks on the roster, instead of, say, another offensive lineman or two? Are we looking at another quarterback competition this spring?

Maybe, but I doubt it. Harbaugh likes the idea of competition at every position. Remember that place kicking competition early in the 2016 season that finally got Kenny Allen focused on kicking field goals? But there’s no hint anywhere, certainly not from Harbaugh, that he has anyone else in mind as a starter for next season except Speight.

There’s always the possibility, because these guys are exceptional athletes, that one or two of the quarterbacks on the roster will eventually move to another position like wide receiver or tight end. (I’m looking at you, Zach Gentry.) Sometimes highly ranked recruits discover that baseball is more to their liking when they don’t get much playing time in the fall. And then there’s always the possibility that one or two of them will leave, transfer to another program, and finally get a shot at a starting position.

Harbaugh has the well-deserved reputation of being a quarterback whisperer. His quarterbacks have consistently done well, and some of them—Andrew Luck comes to mind—have gone on to do extraordinarily well in the NFL. So, I can imagine that a high school player might jump at the chance to play for him, even with lots of competition for playing time.

Give Harbaugh credit. He’s focused on the quarterback position, and he knows that his team’s chances for a national championship rest on having an excellent play caller. They say you can never have too much of a good thing.

Next: Top 10 running backs in Michigan history

Apparently you can never have too much quarterback talent on your roster.

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Michigan Football: Who’s Starting At Quarterback Next Season?

By Douglas Brouwer | Mar 6, 2017

There are a lot of quarterbacks on Michigan football’s roster. Wilton Speight had a pretty good season last year, but is he a solidified starter again?

More from GBMWolverine