GBMWolverine
Fansided

Michigan football: Is J.J. McCarthy ready to start for the Wolverines?

By Christopher Mangum

STATE COLLEGE, PA - NOVEMBER 13: J.J. McCarthy #9 of the Michigan Wolverines warms up before the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium on November 13, 2021 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA - NOVEMBER 13: J.J. McCarthy #9 of the Michigan Wolverines warms up before the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium on November 13, 2021 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
Sep 4, 2021; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Cade McNamara (12) passes in the first half against the Western Michigan Broncos at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 4, 2021; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Cade McNamara (12) passes in the first half against the Western Michigan Broncos at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /

Michigan’s quarterback situation

McCarthy comes in as a long-time commit to Jim Harbaugh and Michigan football. Since Jim Harbaugh’s arrival, there has been a lot of hype surrounding the Wolverines’ football program, and though they have not quite lived up to it, Michigan football is still trending in the right direction.

With four 10-or-more win seasons in seven years, a Big Ten title, and a College Football Playoff berth, the Wolverines have as much merit as almost anyone in the sport since 2015.

Yet still, Michigan seems to be missing one key component, a piece to the puzzle that the Wolverines have not had since 2011: a good quarterback.

In Harbaugh’s first season at Michigan, the Wolverines’ starting quarterback would be Iowa transfer Jake Rudock.

Rudock had just lost the starting job at Iowa and came to Michigan with low expectations, yet did reasonably well in his lone season with the Wolverines. After leading Michigan to a 10-3 season, Roduck graduated and moved to the NFL, which made space for Wilton Speight, who led Michigan to a second-straight 10-3 season in 2016.

It wouldn’t be until 2018 that Michigan felt they honestly had a high-caliber quarterback, yet once again, the Wolverines came up empty under center. Ole Miss transfer (and former five-star recruit)

Shea Patterson came to Ann Arbor for his junior and senior seasons and led Michigan football to a 19-7 record over his two years with the Wolverines. Though the record itself is not terrible, Michigan was still just a good program, not elite.

In 2020 Joe Milton was proclaimed to be “the next Cam Newton” by many sources, yet turned out to be arguably one of the worst Michigan quarterbacks that the program had ever seen.

This blunder of a season paved the way for Cade McNamara to earn a starting role midway through 2020 and throughout the 2021 season.

After a successful 2021 campaign, the Wolverines are once against left with an off-season quarterback battle, but this time the competition looks a little bit different.

If 2021 proved anything about Cade McNamara, he is exactly what Michigan quarterbacks of the past have always been: average.

Though the junior quarterback helped lead Michigan to 12 wins and a conference title, it is clear to all unbiased fans that Michigan could do better under center. That is where McCarthy comes in.

Home/Michigan Football