Michigan football: Is the quarterback angst justified?

“The only thing that might keep this Michigan team from contending in the conference is quarterback play.”

We’ve heard this too many times from too many analysts this spring and summer — heck, we’ve said it ourselves a few times — but there are a few realities here. For one, the same thing can be said about the majority of teams in the country, regardless of conference. Offenses go as the man behind center goes, usually, and while that doesn’t always mean a guy who throws for 3,500 yards, for example — see J.J. McCarthy — he has to have a good handle on the offense and lead scoring drives.

Former head coach Jim Harbaugh used to point out frequently what percentage of Cade McNamara’s, and then McCarthy’s, drives resulted in points. When a percentage of the fan base lamented McNamara’s lack of arm strength and deemed him not “sexy” enough, Harbaugh simply didn’t care. As a man who played the position himself, he knew what made a winner.

There are those who still don’t respect McNamara and won’t give him the respect he earned (just for his play on the field in 2021, to be clear — not for what’s transpired since, including the way he left as a captain). The fact is, though, he was a Big Ten championship quarterback, the first at U-M since 2004.

So, yes. He was “good.” And a place like Michigan, which was Quarterback U. there for a while in the 1990s and 2000s, should never have to worry about finding a quarterback who is at least that. NIL has changed the game, of course, but there are enough out there looking for a special place and situation to develop. The portal, too, should always be an option for one of the nation’s best programs … again, as long as NIL picks up, as hoped.

Moore and offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell know as well as anyone the importance of good quarterback play. They weren’t panicking when McCarthy decided to declare for the NFL Draft. And while they took a peek into the portal — almost all programs do — they found out quickly this spring there was nobody better than the guys in their QB room.

“There are multiple power [conference] starters on our roster,” he told ESPN.com. “Which one’s the best … I need to find that out. Those guys make it harder for me because we’ve got really good players.”

And if it’s junior Alex Orji, as many want it to be — and we get that, too, given his freakish athletic ability — he “has to take it,” Campbell said.

Which might not be as easy as some would think. There have been reports from many that 7th-year veteran Jack Tuttle has been throwing well since his return from surgery. Many have told us he could be the guy to beat.

But make no mistake, it is an open competition, Campbell said. And he might have showed his hand a bit when he said, “no matter what, there’s going to be a role for Alex Orji.”

Remember, it was just last year that Harbaugh said he believed Orji could be the best kick returner in the country. That’s not somewhere you put your future starting quarterback.

No matter who it is, he would have earned it. Those writing off a solid to good year at the position have forgotten how Jake Rudock was thought about when he left Iowa, for example, or had given up on Wilton Speight (like us. We once wrote he’d never play a meaningful down at Michigan). One threw for 3,000 yards and had a very good year, the other exceeded all expectations and would have won a Big Ten title had the Wolverines not gotten jobbed in Columbus in 2016.

In short — keep the faith. There have been many times over the years the starting Michigan quarterback was a guy the fan base chewed nails over all summer, only to have good years (Michael Taylor, John Navarre (yes, he did), Rudock, Speight, and McNamara, just to name a few.

If these championship coaches believe they’ve got the goods to produce a Michigan-worthy option here — and we believe they do, and that it’s not just talk — who are we to argue?

We’ll find out either way in just a few months.

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