Michigan Football: 5 position battles to watch heading into fall camp

The Michigan football season is less than 50 days away and here are five position battles to watch as the Wolverines start fall camp. 

Michigan football’s first game is less than 50 days away and the first practices of fall camp are even closer than that.

The Wolverines will hit the field to prepare for the defense of their Big Ten championship during the first week of August and that’s when we will start to see what this team is all about.

Of course, the media gets almost no access to the practices of Michigan football, so I wouldn’t expect blow-by-blow accounts of the competition between Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy.

But that’s going to be what everyone is following. It’s going to be a fascinating battle but it’s not the only position up for grabs heading into fall camp.

So we analyze the top five position battles heading into August for Michigan football and we start off with the game’s most important position.

Quarterback

This is the position battle every Michigan football fan wants to talk about. Some fans are pro-Cade and some are pro-McCarthy. I’m pro-winning.

I have predicted that McCarthy will eventually take over the starting job this season and I stand by that, but I’ve also said I don’t see McNamara giving it up easy and he’ll be under center in Week 1.

McCarthy also had to take a break from throwing during the spring due to a shoulder injury so the Wolverines don’t want to rush him back. The non-conference schedule isn’t super challenging and McNamara should be able to navigate it just fine.

Both quarterbacks are going to play and McCarthy should have a bigger role. Eventually, it will become clear that he should be starting in my opinion.

Maybe that won’t happen. Maybe J.J. has some injury issues or maybe Cade does and McCarthy stars and never gives the job back. The point is we don’t exactly know when the transfer is going to happen but I still believe it happens sometimes before the trip to Columbus.

However, I wouldn’t be shocked (AT ALL) if it didn’t. McNamara is a Big-Ten championship-winning quarterback and was a third-team All-Big Ten selection. The guy can play.

It’s a good problem to have and ultimately, it’s a battle that won’t be decided for good during fall camp.