Michigan Football: What to make of Shea Patterson and the quarterbacks
Michigan football practices have basically been closed off to the public and with no spring game, what can we expect from Shea Patterson and the quarterbacks?
Jim Harbaugh has always done things a little bit differently as the head coach of Michigan football. But this spring, he was particularly secretive and while that would have been fine if the spring game had been played, once it was canceled, it cost the fans a chance to learn a lot about the team.
Obviously, Harbaugh has bigger things to worry about. He has to find a way to lead Michigan football to some sort of championship soon. The Wolverines also have got to find a way to beat Ohio State or at least the Spartans. Notre Dame too.
Harbaugh doesn’t need to spend his time worrying that the media and the fans are getting a look at the team in the spring. But still, it’s a bummer. Few teams in the country if any, revealed less than what Michigan did.
And of all things, fans and analysts alike wanted to see Shea Patterson throwing the football. The rest of the quarterbacks are intriguing as well, especially because Patterson may not be eligible to play in the fall.
It’s safe to say we all wanted to see how Brandon Peters was coming along. Dylan McCaffrey too. It also would have been nice to get a glimpse of incoming freshman Joe Milton. But now that we were robbed of the chance to see them play, what can we expect at the position going forward this fall?
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The most important question concerns Patterson’s eligibility and that’s something only the NCAAÂ can decide. But even if Patterson is eligible, will he be able to pick up the offense seamlessly? One would think Harbaugh and the coaches would make it as easy as possible, but that’s still going to be a question mark until the live bullets start flying.
The other obvious question is if Patterson can’t play, who starts next season under center? Peters will certainly have a shot, but my money would be on McCaffrey. He tore it up as the scout team quarterback and hopefully has added some weight. At one time, he was supposed to be the next big thing at Michigan and if Patterson can’t go, maybe he will be in 2018.
No matter who the starting quarterback is, the position should be improved. Even if Peters is the guy, he should be better than he was a season ago and certainly better than John O’Korn. McCaffrey or Milton would also need to beat out Peters for the job and if they prove to be better, that would be another upgrade.
Just saying, that even if Patterson can’t play, the sky isn’t falling. UM will still have a chance to be very, very good.
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Michigan still has a long ways to go at the position and much is still up in the air. But unfortunately, outside of learning Patterson’s status for 2018, we won’t know much about the Wolverines’ signal callers until the season stats against Notre Dame Sept. 1.