Michigan football quarterbacks holding their own so far this spring
Quarterback has been one of the key positions to watch in spring practice for Michigan football and so far, they are holding up well.
The biggest question mark facing the Michigan football program going into the 2024 season is who will play quarterback.
A lot of Michigan football fans have been worried about it. One ESPN analyst even predicted that the Wolverines starting quarterback would come from the transfer portal. I told you why I don't see that happening.
It's easy to talk about landing a transfer portal quarterback until you look at the quarterbacks available. It's slim pickings. There could be another addition or two, but last spring, Alabama's big move was adding Tyler Buchner. Auburn got Payton Thorne from Michigan State and both were mediocre.
That's all Michigan football will find in the portal -- a mediocre quarterback. No preferred starter enters the transfer portal which includes Will Howard and Dillon Gabriel. They got pushed out of their jobs and that's why they left. Plain and simple.
Michigan football spring QB update
So going to the portal is a risk and while fans and pundits are worried about quarterback, current Michigan football players aren't.
Colston Loveland, the sophomore tight end, said on Wednesday that he believes that the quarterbacks will step up just like the other players who will need to.
“It’s a great point, finding that chemistry between the competition,” Loveland said via The Wolverine. “But first it starts with the competition. It has started out great. Everyone’s got a fair opportunity to win the job. We’ve got time. It’s spring ball. We have all summer to get it right too. But, hopefully we just find that out. I don’t think anyone here is worried about who the starting quarterback is and who’s going to take charge. It has to play its course out at this point.
“The offense can be based around skill sets that the quarterback has. I can’t answer that question now. We’ll see when it comes to the starting quarterback.”
Loveland said positive things about Alex Orji, Davis Warren, and Jayden Denegal. There have been rumblings that Orji and Warren have been the best quarterbacks in fall camp so far, according to Chris Balas of The Wolverine, but it's early as Loveland said.
Orji's running ability and arm talent has been mentioned by multiple coaches and players. He needs to get more polished, but one way or another, he's going to have a role next season. Orji got on the field against Ohio State, and in the College Football Playoff when the Wolverines had J.J. McCarthy, so even if he isn't starting, I'm sure he'll have a special package.
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Michigan football fans will get their own look at the quarterbacks next month at the spring game, but for now, they should feel good about the way things are headed.