Look Ahead: Will Michigan Be Better At Quarterback In 2020?

Shea Patterson will be gone next year opening the door for Dylan McCaffrey or Joe Milton to take over.

Senior Shea Patterson is down to his last four games as a Michigan quarterback so it's only natural to start thinking about the future at the position. Michael Spath has been asking about positional situations for next year on Twitter and on Inside the Huddle, and we've been discussing how U-M looks in each area.

There's a pretty large faction of the Michigan fanbase that has been clamoring for redshirt sophomore Dylan McCaffrey to take over this year, so it's not surprising that 62 percent of 895 votes think the position is going to look better in 2020.

When you look at Patterson's numbers, it's hard to imagine things getting worse. Through nine games, he's 135-of-236 (57.2 percent) for 1,773 yards and 12 touchdowns against four interceptions. He's averaging just 197 yards passing per game and has been inconsistent as a decision maker, both as a runner and with his reads in the passing game. He's also fumbled nine times and lost four. It has been cleaned up as of late, but ball security was certainly an issue at the beginning of the year.

As underwhelming as Patterson's been, there's nothing that indicates that McCaffrey or Milton would've been better this year. 

McCaffrey has only thrown it 20 times with 10 completions for 116 yards and a score. Milton is just 3-of-7 for 59 yards and a touchdown plus an interception. Both of them are better runners than Patterson athletically, but obviously the mental side of the zone read and RPO game comes into play when running the offense and they simply haven't done enough to prove they're any better than Patterson is in that area.

Let's not rule out the possibility of another transfer quarterback, either. With how Patterson has played, one would think maybe McCaffrey or Milton would get a look, but they haven't. So what's that say about where they are? It's an interesting question and one we'll get an answer to next fall. 

Do you think the quarterback position will be better in 2020? Will it be McCaffrey, Milton or someone else? Comment below!!!