Michigan Football: 3 Reasons why Shea Patterson is the guy

Michigan football fans have been grumbling and calling for backup Dylan McCaffrey to start ahead of Shea Patterson. Are they right?

Shea Patterson didn’t ask for your approval and he probably never will. Hopefully, he won’t have to as long as the supposed playmaker starts making plays. As soon as he starts hitting those 15-20 yard passes and cleans up the mistakes, the questions regarding the position will disappear.

At this point, the question of whether Dylan McCaffrey or Shea Patterson should start has become more of a demand in Dylan’s favor. When you take a look back at recent history, the argument for Dylan begins to dissipate and anyone who knows the facts understands why Shea is the guy.

In 2017, as a sophomore, Shea completed 166 passes for 2,259 yards and 17 touchdowns to just nine interceptions. Those stats only cover the seven games Shea participated in as he suffered a torn PCL and was out for the rest of the season. What that means is if Patterson never got injured, he would have been on track to throw for around 4,000 yards.

After transferring to Michigan last year, Shea didn’t have the offense he needed to post the kind of numbers he did in the SEC. The scheme he participated in was antiquated and relied heavily on game management and less on the arm of its leader.

The new quarterback – the only major offensive change from 2017 to 2018 for UM – brought an 8-5 team up a couple of notches to a 10-3 record. Same coaches (Harbaugh, Pep Hamilton), similar depth chart, and the same offensive system with a shiny new captain to guide the ship to a couple of more wins.

Under new leadership at the offensive coordinator role, Shea’s path has taken a hard turn in terms of philosophy. The old run-first offense is supposed to be gone as are the handcuffs, but he really been released?

Is Shea really playing as bad as people think?

Is Dylan really a better quarterback?

Here we answer those three questions and more which will reveal why Shea is the guy and Dylan is the future.