Michigan Football: 3 things to watch during Wolverines spring ball

Michigan football opened spring practices on Monday and here are three things to watch for the Wolverines over the course of the spring. 

Michigan football got back to work on the field Monday as the Wolverines opened their spring practices.

It’s an exciting step forward and it’s something that Michigan football and many other programs didn’t get to have last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, the Wolverines are fresh off a 2-4 season. Jim Harbaugh is sort of on the hot seat, even though he just signed a new extension and he needs to find a way to rebuild this program on the run and rediscover the success he had early in his tenure.

Some are hoping he can get beyond that with a win over Ohio State and finally winning a Big Ten championship. But first things first: get back to a bowl game and have a winning season.

Obviously, the goal for this team shouldn’t be winning six games. It’s better than that. But with the schedule and the youth at quarterback, no matter who starts, winning 10 games or so will be a tall order and while this team does have talent, we’ll see if it can reach its potential.

Looking ahead to the spring here are a few key things to watch:

QB Battle

The key question facing Michigan football heading into next season is who will be the starting quarterback?

Cade McNamara is returning but has just one career start under his belt. His main competition is five-star freshman J.J. McCarthy. There’s no doubt that he’s brought a different level of excitement to the program but beating out McNamara is another story entirely.

It helps immensely that McCarthy is enrolled now, learning the offense and taking these spring reps. That will give him a huge leg up in the fall but his progress and the progress of both quarterbacks, which is important for depth purposes will be something to watch.