The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2022 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 47 [ Q U A R T E R B A C K S ] him all the way to a Big Ten title and the College Football Playoff. "There's no indication he's doing anything other than everything you should to come back better, and he was pretty darned good last year," noted the new voice of Michigan football, radio play-by-play man Doug Karsch. "In my opinion, his strength is his abil- ity to quickly process information. He does it really quickly. "There was a play against Penn State where he recognized a blitz that Penn State typically didn't run near the goal line, but they did in that game. He saw it, and knew immediately that [junior tight end] Erick All would be open. "After the game, he admitted he delivered the ball to a spot, without really being able to see Erick All. It set up a first-and-goal — this wasn't the touchdown pass at the end. It just made me think, that's an incredibly important trait, the ability to see a defense, quickly process that information and execute a play that can make you have success at the quarterback position." While emphatically making clear he isn't drawing an overall comparison, Karsch did note that one trait reminded him of a former Michigan quarterback. "That is the strength of Tom Brady, the ability to quickly process information and then execute a play," Karsch said. "I think that's McNamara's strength. And there's a stubbornness that he also uses to his advantage, which is also like Tom Brady. "I keep comparing him to Brady, but you know what I mean. He's not Brady, but he has some similar qualities." McNamara now tucks all of that and the memory of tough wins in big games, including The Game, under his belt for 2022. He knows the job comes with no guar- antees, and the position is always "rented," like Harbaugh insists. At the same time, he's not looking to take a step back now. He's the one who threw to Michigan's veteran and rookie receivers in the spring, and who contin- ued to hone his on-field leadership following a Big Ten championship season. "Winning the Big Ten just validates how good he is," Karsch said. "You generally are not good enough to win a Big Ten cham- pionship, win at Penn State, demolish Iowa, beat Ohio State, with- out being very, very competent at that position. It rarely happens. "People get wrapped up in a couple of things that have little to do with how good or bad you are for a college team. One is your recruiting ranking out of high school. The other is your NFL prospects. I don't care what those things are. They have nothing to do with who you are at the collegiate level. "Cade McNamara is pretty darned good." So why, then, are a host of Michigan fans awaiting a coup by McCarthy? Part of it, of course, involves time-honored football tradition. The backup is always presumed to be the best of the bunch, especially if the starter demonstrates any hint of falling short of perfection. In this case, there's more. Considerably more, without the slightest insult to McNamara. A healthy McCarthy features some serious skills, put on display throughout his true freshman season. He's more mobile than McNamara, hav- ing scrambled his way to 124 yards rushing PRESEASON ANALYSIS: STARTER ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Senior Cade McNamara is as steady as they come, having led head coach Jim Harbaugh's most-efficient U-M offense, which churned out 6.39 yards per play. A cerebral player and high-level decision-maker, McNamara makes the right reads and doesn't often turn the ball over. He didn't create many big plays last season, though, with just 84 passes that wound up as 10-plus yard gains (79th nationally). DEPTH ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ McNamara and sophomore J.J. McCarthy pla- tooned a bit in 2021, with the former being un- der center 79.6 percent of the time and the lat- ter taking 16.5 percent of the snaps. Having two signal-callers with experience is a plus, should one go down with an injury. Sophomore walk- on Davis Warren has emerged as a player with potential, too, completing 12 of his 23 passes for 175 yards in the 2022 spring game. OVERALL ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ McNamara is again the favorite to start after McCarthy was limited with shoulder soreness in the spring, but McCarthy flashed some physi- cal tools — mobility, arm strength, etc. — last season that were too good to ignore. It wouldn't shock if this QB competition extends into the season, where the schedule sets up nicely for the battle to continue with U-M's first three op- ponents — Colorado State, Hawai'i and UConn — having combined to win just 10 games in 2021. A high bar was set last season, and that bodes well for this fall. [ Q U A R T E R B A C K S ] THE WOLVERINE 2022 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 47 QUICK FACTS Position Coach: Matt Weiss (2nd year). Returning Starter: Cade McNamara (15 career starts). Departing Starter: None. Projected New Starter: None. Top Reserve: J.J. McCarthy. Wait Until 2023: Davis Warren. Newcomers: Jayden Denegal, Alex Orji. Moved In: None. Moved Out: Dan Villari (transferred to Syra - cuse). Rookie Impact: None. Most Improved Player: McNamara. Best Pro Prospect: McCarthy. X-FACTOR X-FACTOR A former four-star, top-50 recruit per the On3 Consensus, sopho- more J.J. MCCARTHY may have enough talent to take this offense to the next level, both with his arm and his feet. There's a reason why he was too good to sit last season, appearing in 11 games. He's the first U-M freshman signal-caller not to redshirt since Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson in 2009. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL