Previously: Podcast 14.0A, 14.0B, 14.0C. The Story. 

QUARTERBACK: PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999

GRADE: 4.5

Back at the tail end of the last century, Michigan had a quarterback controversy. There was a cerebral guy who didn't blow anyone away physically; there was a dual-threat guy who had all the potential in the world but was a bit younger and less proven. Tom Brady and Drew Henson split snaps for the bulk of the 1999 season as message boards rabbled about who should have the crown. A decision was only made late in the year; by the time Brady was entrusted with leading a stirring comeback against #6 Penn State in Happy Valley everyone knew who the man was, man.

Twenty-three years later we've got a remake in the works, except this time Michigan's coming off a championship. Cade McNamara led Michigan to a win over Ohio State and a Big Ten title and pretty much the entire fanbase wants to put him on the bench in favor of JJ McCarthy. "What have you done for me lately" doesn't quite cover it.

But… I mean… you know. It's not crazy. It's sufficiently sane that Harbaugh announced a slightly insane thing: McNamara will start the opener; McCarthy will start against Hawaii, and then they'll make a decision.

BRADY ANALOGUE

cade: remember this? everyone: no [Bryan Fuller]

Analogue, people. Please vacate Ann Arbor Torch & Pitchfork. Our cerebral game manager type without the electric athleticism is CADE MCNAMARA, you know, the starting quarterback for the Big Ten champion Michigan Wolverines. Everyone wants to pitch him overboard, naturally. And, I mean… ok, yeah. Pro Football Focus listed him 29th in their college-only QB projections, third in the league behind CJ Stroud and Aidan O'Connell. That's okay! It's definitely okay.

Previously: Podcast 7.0. The Story.

to be the man you gotta recruit the man

It's a new era in all possible ways at quarterback. Michigan has exhausted their supply of raw passers with thrilling athleticism; they have also cast aside the previous coaching staff in favor of one in which the head coach is also the QB coach. He is one of the best in the country. Possibly the best.

In Harbaugh's tenure as a coach he…

• helped Rich Gannon(!) win the 2002 NFL MVP award,
• developed non-scholarship San Diego's Josh Johnson into a third-place finisher for the Walter Payton, the I-AA Heisman, and the first draft pick in school history,
• recruited and developed Andrew Luck,
• made Alex Smith look like a legit NFL QB just long enough for him to sign what some regard as the worst contract in the NFL, and
• advocated for, drafted, and developed Colin Kaepernick into a legit starting NFL QB when few thought he could make the transition from the Nevada pistol.

That is strike after strike after strike in not only player development but also talent identification. The contrast between Harbaugh and Al Borges*, who has still never seen a quarterback he recruited start as an upperclassman, could not be greater.

So when Harbaugh saw the state of the most important position in football at Michigan, it's no surprise that he reacted like Kirby. Harbaugh imported a grad transfer (Jake Rudock), a regular transfer (John O'Korn), a second quarterback recruit in 2015, and two recruits in 2016.

Only one of those guys is relevant to this preview: the graduate.

*[Doug Nussmeier has a good track record but only had a year in which it was difficult to make an impact. The only QB on the roster he is responsible for bringing in is freshman Alex Malzone.]

HE CAME FROM DEEPEST IOWA IN SEARCH OF RECEIVERS AND LOVE

Rudock was kind of a big deal at media day [Bryan Fuller]

RATING: 3

JAKE RUDOCK will find at least one as long as he keeps his interception rate where it was last year.

Michigan's previous quarterback, Devin Gardner, turned into a turnover piñata sometime after his soul left his body for the third time. While it's hard to blame him much when his career seems like the kind of experiment that ends in a war crimes trial, the sheer quantity of errors he dished out over the course of last season will make a boring quarterback seem like a godsend.

Rudock is just what the doctor ordered in that department. Of the 100 quarterbacks with the most attempts last year, Rudock was 11th in interception rate. 1.4% of his passes got picked off last year. Gardner was dead last, with a rate almost quadruple Rudock's.

There is a cost associated with that, as any Iowa fan still capable of speech will tell you. This is it:

That is Jake Rudock's reputation: a boring boring boring game manager who idolized Brian Griese and dry toast growing up.

[After THE JUMP: Are Iowa fans wrong? Does Rudock have upside? Whither Morris?]

Gentry vs Malzone: FIGHT

Quarterback recruiting policies.

I know that Harbaugh has every right to recruit his own personnel, but considering that Malzone is already on campus, did he just get royally screwed? If he never suits up, can he transfer without having to sit out?

thanks,
CH

The idea that a quarterback would be screwed over by the addition of another guy at his position in the same class is Hoke-era thinking that should be quickly discarded. Wilton Speight doesn't seem to mind:

Boom!! Loading the stable! #goblue

— Wilton Speight (@WiltonSpeight) January 25, 2015

sent in the immediate aftermath of Gentry's commit

Every other position sees fierce battles; QB should be no different. And even if Malzone is put off by the idea of sharing a spot in the class with Gentry, I think that's more than offset by the idea of getting coached by Harbaugh and Jedd Fisch.

FWIW, Malzone could transfer after his first semester at Michigan. He would have to redshirt and then would be a redshirt freshman wherever he ended up, as Steven Threet was when he fled Paul Johnson's triple option system at Georgia Tech.

The more likely exit scenario for the quarterbacks who find themselves down the depth chart in the midst of cutthroat competition is to get a degree in three years and then transfer with two years to play two. An increasing number of elite QB recruits are throwing themselves in grinders like Michigan's with that idea in their back pocket. If Michigan is going to take two QBs a year that should be part of the pitch: the least you leave here with is a Michigan degree and three years of kickass coaching. Malzone has a head start on that with his early enrollment.

By the way, with reports that elite CA QB KJ Costello is heavily interested in Michigan, this could be the respective first two QB recruiting years of Hoke and Harbaugh:

• Hoke: Russell Bellomy.
• Harbaugh: Malzone, Gentry, DeWeaver, Costello.

That's one three star previously committed to Purdue versus what is probably four four-star recruits. (Hoke did recruit Malzone but Malzone is a block-M true believer who stuck with his plan to enroll early despite Michigan not having a coach at that juncture.) One of the major reasons the Hoke list is so short is that in deference to Shane Morris they didn't take another quarterback in his year… or the year in front of him. That was a disastrous decision. Let's not do that any more.

Harbaugh won't: at Stanford he took an average of two QBs a year.

Two stars bad. More stars good.

@mgoblog with so many high end prospects out there showing interest,why are we pursuing 2 ⭐️players at any position right now?

— Tessmer (@TyTessmer) January 25, 2015

There are only a couple guys on the board who fit that description: recent OH OL commit Nolan Ulizio and as-yet-unoffered FL CB Markel Bush. Everyone else is at least a three star and—unlike many of the transitional Hoke recruits—courted by or committed to high level BCS schools. (Hoke got decommits from Indiana, Vanderbilt, and Minnesota; Harbaugh has flipped guys from Texas, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.) So Harbaugh is already doing well.

As for the two stars, Bush is clearly a backup plan in case they don't get two of the four guys they've offered (Iman Marshall, Will Lockett, Damon Arnette, and Jarius Adams). Ulizio is an offensive lineman. Offensive linemen are less likely to fulfill recruiting expectations than any other position, and as you say Michigan had opportunities to look at other, more highly-rated guys. They passed. Is that a concern?

Five different Stanford linemen were first team All Pac 10 players during Harbaugh's tenure at Stanford; all five were three stars. Harbaugh and Drevno could recruit Pokemon and I'd be okay with it.

Oh, and…

…let's cool it on the judgy bits just yet.

[After THE JUMP: Marrow, length of tenure, Dymonte Thomas, sloxen, Gary Danielson email]