Things are looking about as rough in Ann Arbor as they can for a program that is less than two weeks removed from a national championship win, as the Michigan Wolverines try to find their starting quarterback for 2024.
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Aside from the ongoing NCAA investigations, it's looking more and more like head coach Jim Harbaugh is finally headed to the NFL. Similarly, a litany of seniors are on their way out, with even more juniors and other draft-eligible players electing to go to the NFL.
One of those players is JJ McCarthy, one of the winningest quarterbacks in college football history. He's declared for the NFL draft, leaving Ann Arbor with a record of 27-1, including two Big Ten titles, no losses against conference foes, a Rose Bowl, and a national title.
In this transfer portal era, losing a star quarterback isn't quite as much of a death knell as it used to be. It's easier than ever to reload, as we're seeing from major programs across the country like Notre Dame bringing in Riley Leonard and Ohio State securing a move for Will Howard. The issue is that while the Wolverines' rivals were looking towards next year while Michigan was still playing for a national championship. Much of the transfer madness was already over by the time Michigan had beaten Washington, and certainly by Sunday, when McCarthy announced that he would be heading to the NFL.
The transfer portal window will open up again in the spring, but there's still a couple of issues for Michigan. One is the fact that many of the best options have already made a move, while the other is that it's tough to get a quarterback up to speed with the offense he's going to be running with such little time to prepare. A potential transfer quarterback likely would not even get to participate in spring practice, so he'd come into training camp with extremely little experience in his new system.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the three main options at the quarterback position for Michigan as they look forward to next season, in which they'll face one of the toughest schedules in the nation.
The Veteran
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Michigan could stick with one of the QBs they already have on the roster, although they don't really have a big name like McCarthy, a former five-star recruit, to turn to. Underclassmen Jayden Denegal and Davis Warren have hardly played during their time in Ann Arbor, and were not really top recruits out of high school. They're essentially unknown entities, but expectations for these two are not all that high.
Then there's Alex Orji, who saw a decent amount of time this season as an alternate QB, but never threw a pass. Orji is a solid athlete who was used as a rusher, and he looked good doing so. As a passer, we really don't know what he's capable of either.
Then there's this year's backup in Jack Tuttle. He was a transfer from Indiana, and is applying for a seventh year of eligibility. Tuttle is a former 4-star recruit and has more experience than the rest of the QB room combined, but most of his production is pretty poor. It's not known yet whether he'll even be able to return next year, but he could be another option for whoever's running the program, presumably Sherrone Moore.
The Freshman
This might be the best option for Michigan, albeit perhaps the riskiest. Jadyn Davis is a highly-touted four-star recruit, approximately the seventh-rated QB in his class, depending on your favorite source. He's an early enrollee, and practiced with the team as they prepared for the College Football Playoff, so he's already somewhat integrated into the program, at the very least more than any transfer would be.
Davis received offers from programs such as Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, Texas, LSU, and Ohio State, among many other tremendous names, so suffice it to say that there's plenty of interest around him as a prospect. He's been named North Carolina's Mr. Football, and could have a really bright future ahead of him. This year's schedule is brutal right from the start, so it could be something of a trial by fire, but if Michigan is willing to weather some growing pains from the true freshman, the ceiling could be extremely high.
The Transfer
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Unfortunately, the moment to follow this path may have passed, or at least the moment to do it optimally. Many of the top available QBs have already found new homes, but if the Wolverines want someone with a higher ceiling than their returning passers but also more experience than Davis, there are still a few options out there.
Taulia Tagovailoa might have been a good target, but as it turns out he's not going to be eligible to play next year. Will Rogers could be the guy; the former Mississippi State quarterback transferred to Washington in late 2023, and was even on the sideline as the Huskies competed against Michigan in the national championship game, but he re-entered the portal when head coach Kalen DeBoer bolted for Alabama. In the past, two quick transfers like that would have left Rogers ineligible to play in 2024, but the rules have changed, and he would be able to play right away for Michigan.
James Madison breakout star Jordan McCloud is one of the most exciting names in the portal right now, but it's looking like he's heading to Auburn. Still, a great 11th-hour offer from the defending national champions could change his mind, so he could be another name to watch. Lastly, there's Noah Fifita, the freshman star from Arizona who took the Pac-12 by storm in its final year. He's not in the portal, but since his coach Jedd Fisch left to be the successor to DeBoer in Washington, Michigan could possibly swoop in and grab the rising star.
