3 Michigan Football players with the most to prove/most pressure on them in 2024

3. Alex Orji

The presumptive incumbent at quarterback will have the most pressure on him in 2024. He has to replace a top 10 draft pick, a national champion and the winningest quarterback in the illustrious history of Michigan football. That's a boatload to ask for from a guy who has really never thrown a pass on the collegiate level. However, Orji has been preparing for this moment since the day he started training.

The coaching staff has to trust Orji to throw the ball now and following what everyone saw in the spring, there's still more questions then answers. He was around 50% passing in high school and Michigan football has shown that they can win like that with a better quarterback. Translating that to college can beat the likes of Fresno State and others, but Orji doesn't possess the accuracy that McCarthy improved at over time.

Players of his caliber are usually nothing more than a backup, but because the staff didn't prep him enough to throw it and didn't go shopping in the transfer portal, they'll have to learn on the fly together. That tells me that they believe in their running game by a wide margin and they have confidence that they can win with Orji. Jadyn Davis could come along and take over by season's end, but that seems unlikely based on what has been speculated.