Michigan Football: It’s officially Joe Milton time for the Wolverines

With the news that Dylan McCaffrey will opt out and look to transfer, the Joe Milton era for Michigan football will begin in 2020.

It’s been a big news day for Michigan football. First, we found out the Wolverineswill, hopefully, be playing next month. The other is that the Joe Milton era is about to begin.

Soon after the news was released that the 2020 Big Ten season was going to be restarted in the fall, speculation started about Dylan McCaffrey‘s status on the roster.

And now, according to the Detroit News, McCaffrey will opt out of the 2020 season and will look to transfer, which really means just one thing: Milton will be the starting quarterback.

It’s been clear since fall camp resumed that Milton was the top quarterback and was winning the battle with McCaffrey for the starting job.

Of course, it was premature to name Milton the starter because fall camp, for all intents and purposes, hadn’t really started, at least not in the way that we normally view fall camp.

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But after the news about McCaffrey was confirmed, it’s safe to say Milton’s status atop the depth chart certainly played a factor in the decision.

And that’s not a criticism of Dylan, that’s just a fact. He was protesting for a season not long ago, so he seems like an unlikely player to opt out, unless he is looking to play elsewhere.

For him, if he’s not going to be the starter, it actually makes a lot of sense.

McCaffrey doesn’t have to risk himself this season, which he would be able to keep the year of eligibility for anyway, but now he can enter the transfer portal and possibly play out West.

The Pac-12 still isn’t ready to return, so that leaves a Power-5 conference where McCaffrey could go and realistically compete for a job in the next semester.

For the Wolverines, it means that Milton, as long as he’s healthy, will be the starting quarterback. It also gets rid of any controversy.

Cade McNamara has played well in camp this fall as a redshirt freshman and he will now be counted on to be the backup.

It’s a bummer to see McCaffrey leave and to be honest, he could have helped in certain situations this season. But at the same time, a clear starter at quarterback isn’t a bad thing and now, the Wolverines have that in Joe Milton.