Make A Choice: Should Michigan Pursue JT Daniels?
Jim Harbaugh has been pretty active when it comes to bringing in transfer quarterbacks. Its started with Jake Rudock, continued with John O'Korn, even though he never really found his way, and finally progressed even more with two-year starter Shea Patterson.
Last year three of the four playoff teams were led by transfer quarterbacks. Justin Fields left Georgia to play for Ohio State, Jalen Hurts was essentially pushed out at Alabama, so all he did was go to Oklahoma and lead the Sooners to a playoff berth and Joe Burrow went from Ohio State to lead LSU to a national title.
The transfer portal has made the decision for players to leave more public than ever and it's clearly becoming a big part of the game. So why is there such a negative stigma surrounding it?
If you don't think there is, just take a look at the poll results when I asked the Twitter world if Michigan should pursue USC quarterback JT Daniels.
Furthermore, the replies to the tweet were very one sided.
"Stop with the retread QBs. You recruited these kids, now see them through."
"If Harbaugh don’t start playing QBs that he signs, then if I’m a QB, what’s the point of going to Michigan when in the end he’ll just go out and get a transfer?"
"No more transfers!"
Daniels was a superstar in high school. During his career at Mater Dei in California, he passed for 12,014 yards with 152 touchdowns and just 14 interceptions. He was the first-ever junior to be named Gatorade Player of the Year in California. He was a five-star quarterback and the No. 1 player in the country before he reclassified in order to graduate early and get a jump start on his career at USC.
Three weeks into camp, Daniels was named the starter as a true freshman with the Trojans. He passed for 2,672 yards, 14 touchdowns, and ten interceptions in 11 games, missing one contest due to a concussion. During the season opener last year, Daniels tore his ACL and has since been passed up by Kedon Slovis, who had a very good season in Daniels' absence.
So here we are. Daniels is coming off a knee injury and looking for a new home. Michigan finished second in his recruitment and could be an option for him.
Now, the overall question is, should Michigan pursue JT Daniels or just figure it out with Dylan McCaffrey and Joe Milton?
My Pick
Bring him in. I really don't understand the logic that most people seem to have in regards to Daniels and transfer quarterbacks in general. If you bring in Daniels, and he's better than the other two, how is that possibly a bad thing? If he's not better, then he rides pine and you have McCaffrey and Milton battling it out anyway.
If Daniels came to Michigan, won the job and had 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns, would people still be upset that Harbaugh didn't initially sign him as a recruit? If he wins the job and is a stud, causing a Michigan quarterback or two to transfer, who cares? This is big boy football. The best players play. Some guys stick it out no matter what and others head elsewhere looking for an opportunity. That's college football today and the premier programs have had a lot of success that way.
I like the potential of the offense under both McCaffrey and Milton and actually think they could still win the job even if Daniels did come to U-M. So why not bring him in? Drive competition. Put another talented kid in that room. See if Gattis' offense clicks for Daniels. If it does, you might have something special. If it doesn't, then McCaffrey or Milton wins the job and you still could have something special. It's win-win.
