COLUMN: Why Michigan fans should be more optimistic about Mikey Keene

Trent Knoop | Dec 29, 2024

Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Whenever you go out and land the top-ranked player, especially when it's a quarterback, fans will want to see him play right away. That's the case with Michigan and five-star phenom Bryce Underwood. The Wolverines swayed Underwood to leave LSU and come back home and stay close to Ann Arbor for the next three-to-four years.

However, Michigan doesn't want to be in the same situation that it found itself in this year with not much quarterback depth. The Wolverines rotated between three quarterbacks this season before giving the starting job back to former walk-on Davis Warren.

Michigan, as of now, still has former highly-touted quarterback Jadyn Davis on its roster, but the Wolverines also went out and landed veteran Mikey Keene from the transfer portal. Keene knows new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey fairly well after playing under him at UCF. Keene played there two seasons -- redshirting one -- before transferring to Fresno State where he played the past two seasons.

But Keene wasn't the big name that Michigan fans wanted. Wolverine fans wanted more of a splash like USC's Miller Moss, Cal's Fernando Mendoza, or Washington State's John Mateer. With the signing of Keene, Michigan fans believe that signals Underwood will start Day 1 for the maize and blue, but there is reason for optimism regarding Keene.

At worst, Keene is a great backup quarterback, but at best, Michigan uses Keene and Underwood as it did with Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy in 2021. Underwood plays, but Keene also sees the field and plays turnover-free football, and helps guide the Wolverines to wins using his experience.

Keene has shown he can air the ball out. He's thrown for nearly 3,000 yards in each of the last two seasons. He has thrown for 65 career touchdowns to 28 interceptions and he has completed 67.8% of his passes. Keene is accurate and makes mostly good decisions.

But to dive more into things, according to Pro Football Focus, Keene has been better than several more prominent quarterbacks in each of the last two years.

This season, Keene had a 75.9 grade per PFF which was 64th in the country. However, he graded out better than the following:

Missouri QB Brady Cook (75.7)

Michigan State QB Aidan Chiles (73.8)

South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers (73.3)

Texas QB Quinn Ewers (72.0)

Oklahoma State QB Alan Bowman (71.8)

Among others..

Then in 2023, Keene graded out with a 78.3 grade which was 46th in the country. He graded out better than the following:

Kansas State QB Will Howard (78.1)

Tennessee QB Joe Milton (77.9)

Arkansas QB KJ Jefferson (77.6)

South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler (77.6)

Maryland QB Taulia Tagovailoa (77.6)

Ohio State QB Kyle McCord (76.4)

Clemson QB Cade Klubnik (64.4)

It's very possible that Underwood takes the job on Day 1 because he's just that talented. But Michigan clearly did its homework and liked what Keene brings to the table. His size could be a little concerning standing at 5-foot-11 but Keene is talented and has the arm strength to make an impact in Ann Arbor. As stated above, worst case scenario is that Michigan secured itself a valuable backup, but don't count out Keene to compete for some playing time in 2025.

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