Michigan Football: Shea Patterson named best quarterback in Big Ten

Say it ain’t so. Michigan football’s veteran quarterback was named the best in the Big Ten according to Athlon Sports.

Senior Shea Patterson will lead Michigan football in the fall and everyone is expecting this year to be his best, including Athlon Sports. The receiver core and new offensive scheme were highlighted in their rankings as reasoning for Patterson earning the honor of Big Ten’s best signal-caller.

"After Michigan’s offense cycled through three quarterbacks in 2017, Patterson provided stability and an upgrade at the position in his first year on campus. The Ole Miss transfer completed 64.6 percent of his throws for 2,600 yards and 22 touchdowns to only seven picks. Patterson also added 273 yards and two scores on the ground. Coach Jim Harbaugh plans to hand over the play-calling duties to coordinator Josh Gattis this season, and Michigan’s spring game provided a small peek into what’s in store for 2019. Patterson should benefit from an approach that uses more tempo and spread looks, especially with a receiving corps that ranks among the best in college football."

The article was written by Athlon Sports Steven Lassan who explained the race isn’t as clear cut as you might think.

"Michigan’s Shea Patterson takes the top spot in Athlon’s Big Ten quarterback rankings, but Ohio State’s Justin Fields and Nebraska’s Adrian Martinez aren’t too far behind. ."

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Fields came in at No. 2. The highly touted transfer quarterback from Georgia will look to replace Dwayne Haskins at Ohio State. During his one year stint with the Bulldogs, Fields threw a total of 39 passes, completing 27 for 328 yards.

Prior to college, Fields was the top-ranked dual-threat quarterback and the No.2 prospect in the entire county. He was also the No.2 ranked recruit out of Georgia, right behind the magical arm of Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence.

Behind Justin is Nebraska’s Adrian Martinez. Martinez, who started as a freshman in 2018, completed 65% of his passes and boasted a 139.5 passer efficiency rating. On the ground, Adrian accounted for 629 yards and added eight TDs.

Nate Stanley from Iowa landed at four while Brian Lewerke from Michigan State arrived at five. Lassan blamed Brian’s lack of production last season to a shoulder injury.

"After throwing for 2,793 yards and 20 touchdowns to seven picks in 2017, Lewerke seemed poised to claim a place among the Big Ten’s top quarterbacks last season. Instead, a shoulder injury suffered in the first half of the year derailed his 2018 campaign. Lewerke tossed 2,793 yards and 20 touchdowns in his first season as the starter in ’17 but regressed to 2,040 yards and eight touchdowns to 11 picks last fall. Additionally, Lewerke’s completion percentage dropped from 59 percent (2017) to 54.3 in ’18. With a full offseason to recover, the senior’s production and overall performance should rebound in 2019."

Playing at home against the Wolverines in October, Lewerke threw 25 passes completing only five for a total of 66 yards. Impressive stats considering the offense achieved a grand total of 94 yards against Don Brown’s defense.

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Purdue’s Elijah Sindelar is at No.6 and another transfer quarterback – this time from an ACC school – is listed at seven. Virginia Tech transfer Josh Jackson will be playing for the Maryland Terps under new head coach Mike Locksley. Locksley worked alongside Josh Gattis at Alabama during the 2018 season.

At number eight, Peyton Ramsey from Indiana made an appearance. Northwestern’s Hunter Johnson – Clemson transfer –  arrived at nine and Sean Clifford from Penn State finished out the top ten.

Numbers 11 through 14 are as follows:

Zack Annexstad, Minnesota

Jack Coan, Wisconsin

Artur Sitkowski, Rutgers

Isaiah Williams, Illinois