Who Would You Start At Quarterback?

Michigan is just three weeks away from kicking off the 2021 season as the quarterback battle wages on.

As Michigan prepares for the season opener against Western Michigan, Jim Harbaugh, Josh Gattis and Matt Weiss are still trying to figure out which quarterback will lead the team. It feels like it's going to be Cade McNamara, but you can make a legitimate argument for the other candidates as well. 

Here are those arguments. Who ya got?

Alan Bowman

1. Experience

As he prepares for his fourth year, Bowman is the old guard in Michigan's quarterback room. He's got 16 starts under his belt, which is 15 more than McNamara and obviously 16 more than the true freshman McCarthy. He's also thrown for more than 5,000 yards and 33 touchdowns compared to McNamara's 425 and five. Experience is very important for a quarterback and Bowman has a lot more than any other signal caller on U-M's roster.

2. Confidence

Because of that experience, Bowman is a confident player. He was a starter as a true freshman and has played a lot of football in college. He knows what he's good at and what he's not so good at, he understands how to handle big moments and stages and he knows that he can make plays at this level because he's actually done it over the course of more than a season. McNamara and McCarthy simply aren't in that head space. They're certainly confident players in their own right, but there's nothing like confidence that stems from actual experiences.

3. Ability/Mentality

There's no guessing with or for Bowman. He's played, he's had some success and he's put up some big numbers. He's shown over the course of 16 starts that he's a capable, Power 5 quarterback. He's a plus athlete, has a live arm and makes plays outside the pocket by using his feet and throwing from different platforms. He's also quite accurate. Bowman also thinks he's the guy. I don't know exactly what he was told by Jim Harbaugh, and I don't think anything has been promised to Bowman at all, but he didn't pick Michigan so he could hold a clipboard. However those conversations went, Bowman feels good about winning the job. If he didn't think he was going to be the starter, he would've went elsewhere. Plenty of programs would've welcomed an established graduate transfer quarterback with multiple years of eligibility left.

JJ McCarthy

@jjmccarthy09 / Twitter

1. Talent

McCarthy is young, but he's got the most arm talent and is the best runner out of the three quarterbacks battling for the starting spot. While in high school, he was actually considered a dual-threat quarterback for a while, and even though he's not that, he can definitely move the chains with his legs and could be effective on zone reads and designed quarterback runs. He is a little slight, although he has bulked up, but speed wise he's good to go. He also has an extremely live arm. He can throw on the run very well and has no problem with accuracy from several different arm angles. He might not be described as having a rocket for an arm, but the ball really jumps off of his hand and he doesn't need a lot of space to put plenty of zip on the ball. There's a reason he was one of the best quarterback prospects in the 2021 class and Michigan fans can't wait to see him in action because of it.

2. Confidence

The kid is a winner, a competitor and a worker. All of that makes him extremely confident in what he does and gives him the mentality of an older quarterback who has been starting in college for years. As a freshman, sophomore and junior, McCarthy led Nazareth Academy to three straight state championship game appearances with one win (as a sophomore) and then led IMG Academy to an undefeated season and national title last year against some of the best high school teams in the country. He just flat out gets it done and knows that he flat out gets it done.

3. Future Implications

This reason is the most interesting because it depends completely on Jim Harbaugh and the coaching staff. Let's say Bowman, McNamara and McCarthy are all pretty close — why not let the youngster get his feet wet and build for the future? Let him be the guy, earn the trust of his guys and start working toward being a star as a junior and senior. That's probably not the most likely scenario, but a lot of fans would be fine with that approach and it does make some sense.

Cade McNamara

AP Photo/Paul Sancya

1. Familiarity

McNamara's entire two-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 two 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 win guys over in a hurry, but you can't recreate two-plus 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 Weiss and Harbaugh 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 could close, but McNamara, along with everyone else right now, rightfully sees himself as the starter three weeks out.