Michigan Football: Brandon Peters still has a lot to prove

Brandon Peters has played well at quarterback for Michigan football, but he still has work to do if he wants to lock down the starting job going forward.

Going into last Saturday’s game against Minnesota, Michigan football fans were excited to see what Brandon Peters could do as the starting quarterback. Yet, after the Wolverines racked up nearly 400 yards rushing, it turned out, he didn’t have to do much.

Peters was still solid. He completed eight of 13 passes for 56 yards and threw one touchdown. He wasn’t asked to make a lot of plays, but he converted some big third downs, including a pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones on third down, that set up a first-and-goal. Michigan football eventually scored and went ahead 27-7. The conversion meant the difference between a touchdown and a field goal. It turned a two-possession game into three possessions. In other words, it was crucial.

In two games, Peters has thrown 28 times and completed 19. That’s 67 percent. He also has two touchdown passes and more importantly, no turnovers. He has taken a few sacks, but other than that, he has played mistake-free football. Something no coach can complain about.

Yet, Peters still has work to do if he wants to lock down the starting job long term.

Obviously, the redshirt freshman has passed John O’Korn on the depth chart. However, if Wilton Speight returns this season, which is possible, he could push for the job again. And heading into next season, Dylan McCaffrey also looks like a threat.

McCaffrey redshirted this season, but has been running the scout team for Michigan and in that role, he has gained the admiration of defensive coordinator Don Brown.

McCaffrey, who was the sixth-ranked quarterback in the 2017 class, has a lot of hype surrounding him and with good reason. Many see him as the dynamic quarterback Michigan football has been missing. So if Peters doesn’t want get to passed up, playing well in the next three weeks is important.

No matter what happens this season, there will be a quarterback competition next fall. That’s just how Jim Harbaugh works. If Speight is still around, it will likely be a three-way battle between Speight, Peters and McCaffrey.

But if Peters can play well and notch some big wins in the final month of the season, he could cast himself as the incumbent. If he leads Michigan to wins over Wisconsin or Ohio State, it’d be awfully hard not to think of him as the guy going forward.

At this point, we just don’t know enough about Peters to make that judgement. Rutgers and Minnesota are both average teams at best. We need to see what Peters can do against top-flight teams and soon enough, we will get that chance.

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If Michigan keeps winning and Peters plays well in the process, he can establish himself as the starter. He will still have to fend off a challenge prior to next season. But it’s always better to be the incumbent, instead of the challenger.

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