Michigan Football: No need to worry about recent transfers
The Michigan football program has endured a slew of transfers in recent days, including two quarterbacks. But for the Wolverines and their fans, it shouldn’t be a concern.
When any college football season ends, there are sure to be changes. And for the Michigan football program, that has proven to be true.
Related Story: How this season will affect the expectations for 2018
In the first week after the regular season, the first day in fact, Michigan football started to lose players transferring. The first to announce his departure was former starting quarterback Wilton Speight.
But soon, Speight was joined by fellow quarterback Alex Malzone, as well as wide receivers Drake Harris and Maurice Ways. Certainly, the transfer of Speight opened some eyes, but at the end of the day, it’s not really significant.
Speight was not going to win the starting job next season. It simply wasn’t going to happen. His job was to ease the transition, while younger quarterbacks like Brandon Peters got ready. Speight did that, now it’s time for him to move on.
The signal caller played reasonably well in 2016, his first season as a starter, but in 2017, he was terrible. He completed just 54 percent of his passes, threw three touchdowns and two picks before getting injured.
Michigan Wolverines Football
Obviously, if he had stayed, he would have provided Michigan football with a veteran backup for 2018. But his decision to leave isn’t a reflection of Jim Harbaugh or the program he’s building. It simply came down to the fact that the soon-to-be Michigan graduate could see the writing on the wall.
Malzone’s decision, along with those from Ways and Harris fit in the same category. Neither receiver was going to sniff the field next year. Not with Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tarik Black, Nico Collins, Oliver Martin, Kekoa Crawford and Eddie McDoom all coming back. So they made decision about what was best for their future and left.
Malzone did the same. He was the backup in last Saturday’s loss to Ohio State, but I had about as much chance of being the Wolverines starter next season as he did. So again, it wasn’t surprising that he left.
The only thing all these guys have in common: They were recruited by Brady Hoke, not Harbaugh.
Certainly, Speight made some nice contributions, as did Harris and Ways, especially as leaders this past season. But none of the four guys leaving, were going to anything but ride pine in 2018.
Next: Top 10 Michigan Running Backs of All Time
So if some try to create a frenzy or a panic about all the guys leaving Michigan football, don’t sweat it. They left cause they weren’t good enough to play, plain and simple.