History May End Up Being Kinder To Shea Patterson

John Navarre was a bum. Until he wasn't. Tom Brady was a guy in the way of phenom Drew Henson. Now everyone claims they were a fan of Brady's back in 1998-99. Chad Henne went 0-4 against Ohio State but a decade later, he's largely celebrated as one of U-M's all-time greats.

History has a way of being kinder to former Wolverines, especially quarterbacks, than judgments in real time, and ultimately, I think it will be kinder to Shea Patterson.

I've been critical of Patterson. His lack of a big arm and his inaccuracy, his penchant for panicking in the pocket unnecessarily so, and his reluctance to keep the ball on read-option plays, in my opinion, all hamstrung the Michigan offense in 2019. A year that was to be Jim Harbaugh's signature campaign instead became a nightmare as the Wolverines lost four games and finished No. 18 nationally.

But time has a way of putting things in perspective, sizing up a quarterback not against the All-Americans of his era, but against those that wore the maize and blue before, and in so many categories, Patterson stands out as one of Michigan's best.

Among the 25 quarterbacks in school history to attempt 250 passes in a career, Patterson ranks:

• Second in touchdown-to-interception ratio 3:1 behind only Drew Henson (3.14:1)

• Fourth in passer rating (144.2).

• Fourth in yards passing per start (217.7)

• Sixth in yards per attempt (8.0)

• Sixth in career passing touchdowns (45)

• Seventh in passing percentage (60.1%)

Patterson did go 0-2 against Ohio State, but a winless record against the Buckeyes has become the norm for Michigan signal-callers. He was 2-0 against Michigan State and 1-1 against both Notre Dame and Penn State.

History tends to hone in on the better moments of an athlete's career, like Patterson's game-winning touchdown pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones against Michigan State in 2018 or his shredding of the Spartans in 2019 (384 yards and four touchdowns). Sure, there will still be frustrations that boil up when fans think about games lost but those die down with each passing year.

What will ultimately shape Patterson's post-Michigan legacy will rest in how his successors fare. If Dylan McCaffrey or Joe Milton emerges as one of college football's best QBs in 2020 and leads the Wolverines to a win over Ohio State and a Big Ten title, Patterson will be viewed as an impediment that stood in the way of progress, his career posthumously ripped into tatters.

But, if either McCaffrey or Milton struggle in Year 1, many will long for the days when Patterson was under center. That's the way it goes in sports, you were either part of the problem or part of the solution.

There are those advocating on both sides of this argument: that Patterson helped transform the Michigan offense into a potential juggernaut, serving as a pioneer to the spread offense run by Josh Gattis, and those saying U-M could have been so much more dangerous in 2019 had he been replaced.

Which is it? Once again, history will decide.