Michigan Football: 5 reasons to buy Wolverines as top-5 team in 2019

Shea Patterson will deliver

People really want to rip on Patterson and make no mistake, he deserved plenty of blame for the way the season ended, but that doesn’t mean everything else he did doesn’t matter.

The bottom line is that Patterson put together the best season by a Michigan football quarterback since Chad Henne. He completed 64.6 percent of his passes, threw 22 touchdowns compared to just seven interceptions and averaged 8.4 yards per attempt, a very good number.

Michigan Wolverines

There is a reason why Pro Football Focus named Patterson the top-rated quarterback in the Big Ten and that was based on last season. Patterson didn’t look better than Dwayne Haskins in the last game but he also played in an offense that limited his opportunities, despite having three dynamic wide receivers in Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins and Tarik Black.

Instead of showcasing those guys against OSU and Florida, Michigan ran the ball way too much, especially against the Buckeyes. Had Patterson been able to come out slinging it, who knows what would have happened?

In 2019, it appears the top QB recruit in 2016 will get that chance. Say what you will but Patterson is an NFL-level quarterback and will get drafted when he does go to the league. And with Gattis running a system that should better highlight his ability and open up the playbook, the sky is the limit.

Patterson coming back is the best thing that could have happened for Michigan football. He is driven to beat Ohio State and even though the Buckeyes got Justin Fields, come November, Patterson will prove himself to the superior, at least for 2019.

For all those reasons, Michigan football has a very good chance at finally breaking back into the top 5 for the first time in 20 years and for once, finally livng up to the hype.