Cade McNamara Tops National List
Even though Cade McNamara wasn't asked to do too much against Western Michigan, he still showed that he's in complete control of the offense and can make plays when he needs to.
According to Pro Football Focus, McNamara was the highest-graded Power 5 quarterback in the country after the opening weekend of college football. When you include Group of 5 QBs, McNamara came in at No. 4 overall.
Michigan's new starter only had to throw the ball 11 times against an overmatched Western squad but he completed nine of those throws for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Perhaps more important than the numbers, was McNamara's poise, leadership and ability to run the offense. He's been billed as a heady player and it's clear that he took the starting job seriously this offseason. He's been getting ringing endorsements from his teammate and coaches since spring ball and Jim Harbaugh reinforced those comments after Saturday's game.
"I thought he played a very efficient game," Harbaugh said after the win. "He's seeing the field well, making the right throws; all the right decisions. He moves our team. All the drives he’s been in, we score points when he’s out there."
Quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss said last week that McNamara won't have to go out and win the game for U-M and that's certainly how it played out against Western. The young quarterback didn't have to put it in the air very often, but his 76-yard deep ball to Ronnie Bell was a thing of beauty and he showed good timing and accuracy on his other eight completions as well.
I'm anxious to see how McNamara looks in a tight game where he has to throw it 30 or 40 times, but Saturday was quite promising. He was on point and led Michigan to a big lead that allowed him to watch the final quarter-plus from the sidelines. His PFF grade of 93.0 is considered elite, which is great against Western Michigan, but now we need to see if he can stack another one up against a more talented, and angry, Washington team this week.
