Wolverine Digest

Where Michigan's Presumptive Starting QB Ranks Nationally

The latest quarterback rankings by PFF show that the Wolverines have plenty to prove in 2021.

Christopher Breiler

With fall camp just weeks away, the preseason lists and rankings are making the rounds throughout social media.  In one of its latest rankings, Pro Football Focus examined each presumptive starting FBS quarterback and ranked them 1-130.

Based on the rankings, it's clear that PFF has considerable doubts about the current quarterback situation in Ann Arbor.  Michigan fans reviewing the full rankings list will need to scroll down all the way to No. 70 before finding a Michigan quarterback.  In fact, PFF listed two Michigan quarterbacks at No. 70 as the projected starter - junior Cade McNamara and Texas Tech transfer Alan Bowman.

Here's where each Big Ten quarterback ranks on PFF's list.

  1. No. 5, Michael Penix Jr. - Indiana
  2. No. 20, C.J. Stroud - Ohio State
  3. No. 26, Graham Mertz - Wisconsin
  4. No. 36, Tanner Morgan - Minnesota
  5. No. 37, Taulia Tagovailoa - Maryland
  6. No. 60, Jack Plummer/Aidan O'Connell - Purdue
  7. No. 62, Payton Thorne/Anthony Russo - Michigan State
  8. No. 70, Cade McNamara/Alan Bowman - Michigan
  9. No. 75, Adrian Martinez - Nebraska
  10. No. 88, Sean Clifford - Penn State
  11. No. 94, Noah Vedral - Rutgers
  12. No. 96, Brandon Peters - Illinois
  13. No. 112, Spencer Petras - Iowa
  14. No. 116, Ryan Hilinski - Northwestern

As it currently stands, junior quarterback Cade McNamara is leading the battle for QB1 in Ann Arbor.  In fact, first-year quarterbacks Coach - Matt Weiss - named McNamara as the starter back in April during a podcast.

"Cade is a guy who, I think for everything people are going to say or criticize him — he’s a guy who’s going to play 10 years in the NFL," Weiss explained. "You can say he’s not enough of this or enough of that, but at the end of the day, he’s very smart, makes great decisions, he processes things very fast and his accuracy and arm strength are more than enough to win with. He’s a guy that’s been awesome to work with. He’s extremely valuable to our team as our starter. I love the fact that we have him."

Brandon Brown, owner and publisher of Wolverine Digest, recently explained why McNamara is most likely to win the job during fall camp.

 1. Familiarity

McNamara's entire three-year career has been with offensive coordinator Josh Gattis. True freshman JJ McCarthy can't say that and neither can incoming graduate transfer Alan Bowman. McNamara's familiarity with Gattis, the offensive approach in general, the terminology and the other offensive players gives him a major advantage heading into the 2021 campaign.

2. Support

With three years at Michigan under his belt, McNamara is going to have support from the rest of the team that McCarthy and Bowman simply don't have. McCarthy could be the hardest working, most likable young quarterback ever, and Bowman might arrive in Ann Arbor with bells on, but you can't recreate three years of working, sweating and bleeding with your brothers. I'm not saying there will be a rift anywhere on the team between players as quarterbacks battle it out, but McNamara has established chemistry and camaraderie with the rest of the team that only occurs over time.

3. Confidence

Lastly, McNamara has to feel pretty good about his chances to lead the team for the reasons mentioned above and because new quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss openly called him the starter. McNamara doesn't have as many starts as Bowman, but he has more starts at Michigan. He's very comfortable with Josh Gattis, the skill players on the roster and the offensive linemen blocking for him. He understands the Big Ten and what it's like to play in The Big House and on the road around the conference. Even though he's quite young, he's going to feel like the veteran in the quarterback room at least for a while. Once Bowman is around for a while that gap will close, but McNamara rightfully sees himself as the starter 100 days out. 

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Christopher Breiler
CHRISTOPHER BREILER

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