Skip to main content

For Michigan, Quarterback Development Continues To Be A Question

Junior Cade McNamara looks to break the cycle in Ann Arbor.

In what was expected to be a strength for Jim Harbaugh at the University of Michigan has become one of the biggest question marks of his entire tenure.

As Harbaugh prepares the Michigan football program for year seven under his leadership, fans are eagerly waiting to see if this will finally be the year that one of Harbaugh's quarterback recruits actually succeeds on the field at Michigan.  Junior Cade McNamara is the latest Harbaugh recruit to have the opportunity of winning the starting job in Ann Arbor, but history shows he's got a difficult road ahead.

Here's a look at all of Jim Harbaugh's quarterback recruits and how they've fared though six seasons.

Brandon Peters, 2016 Class - Transfer

Brandon Peters was Jim Harbaugh’s first quarterback recruit at the University of Michigan. Peters was rated as the No. 6 pro-style quarterback in the nation and the No. 1 overall recruit from the state of Indiana. Harbaugh indicated that he saw many similar traits in Peters that he saw in Andrew Luck, leading many to believe that Peters was set to become Michigan's next great quarterback.

brandon peters

"He's a winner. Very similar (to Luck) in stature at this stage," Harbaugh said. "But most of all, he knows how to naturally play the game of football."

Though Peters would have several opportunities to win the starting job outright, he was never quite able to find his footing at the University of Michigan. Peters ultimately entered the transfer portal following the 2018 season and is currently the starting quarterback at the University of Illinios.

Dylan McCaffrey, 2017 Class - Transfer

Dylan McCaffrey arrived in Ann Arbor with a lot of fanfare. Not only was he the younger brother of Stanford star running back Christian McCaffrey, he was also the son of three-time Super Bowl Champion wide receiver Ed McCaffrey. Coming from the McCaffrey bloodline, fans once again believed that the highly rated quarterback out of Colorado was set to become the next great quarterback at the University of Michigan.

dylan mccaffrey

Though McCaffrey showed flashes of what made him such a highly rated recruit coming out of high school, he also suffered two significant injuries in limited reps that caused him to miss significant time early in his college career. Having fully recovered from his injuries, it seemed like McCaffrey was a sure bet to win the starting job in 2020 following the departure of Shea Patterson. Unfortunately for McCaffrey, Joe Milton emerged as the runaway favorite during fall camp - with multiple reports suggesting that the competition wasn't even close. Following the announcement that Milton had won the starting job, McCaffrey opted out of the 2020 season and announced his intention to transfer.

On January 31, McCaffrey announced that he would be transferring to Northern Colorado to play for his father, Ed McCaffrey.

Joe Milton, 2018 Class - Transfer

Joe Milton arrived in Ann Arbor as Harbaugh’s highest rated quarterback recruit in the 2018 class. In addition to all of the physical attributes Milton possessed, the reports coming out of camp suggested that Mitlon had run away with the starting job and that the competition wasn’t even that close.

joe milton

After beating out Dylan McCaffrey for the starting job in 2020, it appeared that Harbaugh had finally hit on one of his quarterback recruits. While the jury is still out on Milton, it became clear over the course of the season that there was still a long way to go in terms of development. Milton would eventually be replaced by Cade McNamara in week five.

Though McNamara's success was short-lived after suffering a season ending injury the very next week against Penn State, the writing was on the wall for Milton.  Not only would McNamara be the obvious favorite to win the job in 2021, highly-rated recruit JJ McCarthy would also be on campus.

Milton would announce his intention to transfer on February 18, 2021.

Cade McNamara, 2019 Class

Cade McNamara got his first shot when he replaced a struggling Joe Mitlon during week five with the Wolverines trailing Rutgers on the road. McNamara entered the game with Michigan trailing 17-0 and quickly went to work - putting together a three-play, 63 yard touchdown drive on his first possession. McNamara would ultimately lead the Wolverines to a triple-overtime victory that night, snapping a three-game losing streak.

cade mcnamara

It appeared, at least for the moment, that Harbaugh had discovered his new starting quarterback for the remainder of the 2020 season. McNamara would get the start the very next week against Penn State, but suffered a shoulder injury during the first quarter of the game that all but ended his 2020 season.

With spring ball in the books for the 2021 off-season, all reports suggest that McNamara is firmly in control of the quarterback battle.  The primary contenders to this point have been freshman JJ McCarthy and sophomore Dan Villari, but that will change in a very big way when fall camp begins.  

Texas Tech transfer quarterback Alan Bowman will arrive on campus this summer and will be McNamara's toughest test yet.  Bowman, a three-year starter at TTU who battled multiple injuries, arrives in Ann Arbor with 19 career starts, 5,260 career passing yards, 33 career passing touchdowns and a QBR of 139.5.  Bowman will be by far the most experienced quarterback on the Michigan roster when he arrives over the summer, and he certainly didn't pick Michigan as a destination just so he could ride the bench.

Alan Bowman

There's still a lot of ball to be played before a decision is made regarding Michigan's top quarterback this fall, but McNamara is now the latest Harbaugh quarterback recruit who will be battling not just for the starting job in 2021, but likely for his future with the Michigan football program.  

Three of Harbaugh's quarterbacks have made the same journey that McNamara is about to make - and all three quarterbacks ultimately ended up in the transfer portal.  We'll find out soon enough if the gunslinger from Nevada becomes the first to change the narrative...or just the latest to change teams.