5 things to watch as Michigan Football opens spring practices

The QB competition

of course, we can’t talk about Michigan football without talking about the ongoing quarterback competition between Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy.

That was supposed to be the dominant topic of conversation surrounding Michigan football this offseason before Harbaugh started entertaining the NFL. But now that Jim is back and sounds committed long term, the focus goes back to the quarterbacks.

Here’s what Jim said about the competition:

"“Like you go at any position, we’re gonna play the best players. Then the question comes back: how do we know who the best players are? Because they play the best. Really that simple. If one is clearly, one will clearly be the starter, and could be the way we did it last year where they’re splitting time or it could be one more than the other or one the full way.”"

The battle is going to be fierce as both McNamara and McCarthy showed last year they are up to the job. McCarthy is the future though and after burning one season of eligibility, you wonder how long he’s going to stay on the bench when he will be draft-eligible after the 2023 season.

That said, Cade is the ultimate winner and while he isn’t as talented as McCarthy, he’s one of the team captains and played good enough to be third-team All-Big Ten.

Either way, it’s going to be a tough call and it’s definitely something to watch this spring.