"That's My Quarterback", says Revsine
BTN Dave watched practice and gives his assessment as to who, absolutely, should be Michigan's starting quarterback.
August 19th, 2022 at 6:12 PM ^
FYI:
“I thought both quarterbacks looked very good, but man, McNamara — the ball never hits the ground when he’s in there,” Revsine told the WXYT-FM radio hosts. “He’s so accurate.”
August 19th, 2022 at 8:57 PM ^
Though more of the same, McNamara's steady, McCarthy's spectacular, it's still fun to read.
August 19th, 2022 at 6:13 PM ^
If you don't want to click on it, he picks McNamara as the safer play with an offense loaded with weapons. There is not as big of a need for a playmaker like JJ in his opinion.
So, feel free to go down the Cade vs. JJ battle again. I prefer JJ for the upside and ability to move the chains with his legs. Also, you can't go wrong with either. I think we will see a heavy dose of both for the front part of the schedule.
August 19th, 2022 at 6:17 PM ^
Paisano, I think both Cade and JJ see a lot of action this fall. I wouldn’t be surprised if the split on snaps was 55/45.
What do you think?
August 19th, 2022 at 6:31 PM ^
The quickest way to gum up the season is to split reps anywhere close to 50/50. Offenses, quarterbacks need rhythm. Carr tried the 2 qb thing and it didn't lead to a desired season result. Pick one and give him 90% of the snaps... and kick ass!
August 19th, 2022 at 6:49 PM ^
They went 10-2, won the Orange Bowl, and finished 5th in the polls. Not exactly a terrible year.
August 19th, 2022 at 6:59 PM ^
Painful when the 2 are msu and uga. Barf.
August 19th, 2022 at 7:03 PM ^
So, if Brady is playing the entire game vs Sparty, then Michigan is playing for a National Title as a one loss team (assuming the loss to Illinois) the following January, right? Maybe the 2nd title in 3 years, huh?
August 19th, 2022 at 7:11 PM ^
FSU and VT were both undefeated so probably get the invites regardless.
I do think the best version of the '99 team (the one that existed when we were down two scores and Carr/Debord let Brady loose) wins a playoff though.
August 19th, 2022 at 8:09 PM ^
The loss to Illinois was a result of a hangover from the loss to MSU. They had the talent to win it all. The ‘99 team had 2 GOATs on it, Brady and Steve Hutchinson.
August 20th, 2022 at 12:11 AM ^
I’m not at practices. And the staff may have talked to them - and said - “this is our approach until one of you really distinguishes yourself from the other.”
Respectfully, if one QB works closer with one group of receivers - and the second works with another group - it’s a bit of plug & play - and the unit which needs to adjust the most, based on play calling - is the OL, which was pretty solid last year - and maybe able to flex to both QB’s.
Remember how lowly rated McNamara was - I think - only a 4* QB (pun intended).
Yes, JJ seems to have greater mobility - perhaps stronger arm. But, if Cade is better at reading the defense - and making adjustments - who would you pick to start? We have also seen Cade’s leadership - though, JJ might have those same qualities.
it’s a great situation to have - two talented QB’s who support and push each other.
I’ll support them both, and trust the staff to figure it out. And, I’m looking forward to the season…
August 20th, 2022 at 10:45 AM ^
Since you asked, JJ.
August 19th, 2022 at 7:23 PM ^
He definitely puts an over emphasis on how Cade doesn't let the ball hit the ground, and he doesn't say the same about JJ.
Josh Perry also said Cade's accuracy and leadership is incredible with this team, and that JJ just spikes the ball into the dirt too many times right now and lacks the command over the team that Cade currently has.
August 19th, 2022 at 8:09 PM ^
One of the two will take a bad hit and miss a half here and there, maybe a game or more. Happens every year.
August 19th, 2022 at 8:19 PM ^
I’m glad there isn’t a huge drop off in talent when the other one takes over.
August 19th, 2022 at 6:18 PM ^
It's not surprising for Cade to improve his skills when there is an elite talent chipping at his heels. This is what happens when steel sharpens steel. It's about time that Michigan is in this very position at the QB position.
August 19th, 2022 at 7:07 PM ^
...nevermind, we know what you meant.
And yes, by all accounts, Cade is a better QB than he was last year and he's the smartest QB to play for Harbaugh since Ruddddock.
He can read defenses and just knows where to go with the ball.
From what I understand, it's those times when he has to improvise and go off schedule where JJ is the better QB.
That said, we have the best OL in the country, great WRs and TEs and great RBs. You should be on schedule a lot more than you're off schedule.
August 19th, 2022 at 6:26 PM ^
Honestly, I don't care who starts. I don't care what percentage of snaps either one takes. Just take care of the ball, move the chains, lead the team, score points, and win!! Winning cures everything. Go Blue!
August 19th, 2022 at 8:59 PM ^
Agreed. With our WR, TE and Edwards they will get YAC. Just need to get them the ball.
August 19th, 2022 at 6:46 PM ^
You don't win a championship with a game manager (unless you have an Alabama caliber roster). I don't dislike Cade, I just like McCarthy more bc he has a much higher ceiling. Mobility at the QB position is the game changer in college football.
August 19th, 2022 at 6:58 PM ^
Cade won the Big Ten Championship last year…
August 19th, 2022 at 8:30 PM ^
And he was the worst player on the field in the game to get to the actual championship. You think Alabama is going around celebrating the fact that they beat LSU and won the SEC last year? The goal is a National Championship.
August 19th, 2022 at 11:16 PM ^
That might be the only goal of some fans, but I doubt that's the case with the players who strap it up.
Take a listen to Blake Corum here:
Beating Staee, beating osu, and winning the Big Ten all apparently mean a lot to Blake.
August 19th, 2022 at 9:12 PM ^
And couldn’t compete with the Georgia defense.
August 19th, 2022 at 10:34 PM ^
Neither could JJ. This should be Cade's team. There's so much more to being a good quarterback and leader than just arm speed and foot speed.
As someone who watched Drew Henson launch ball after ball 10 ft over receivers' heads, I think Cade gives us the best chance possible to maximize wins.
August 19th, 2022 at 11:49 PM ^
Check the numbers. McCarthy was able to move the ball against Georgia.
August 20th, 2022 at 12:31 AM ^
Not discounting that Cade may in fact be the guy winning the battle and if so should be the starter, but that statement about Georgia and JJ isn't exactly accurate. The only time they did move the ball with any consistency against Georgia was when JJ was in the game, and it's not like they still weren't playing their first team defense.
August 19th, 2022 at 7:12 PM ^
A game manager beat OSU and won the first B1G Championship since 2004, and got us to our first ever CFP.
WTF are you talking about?
Mobility is a game changer? How did that work out for Joe Milton?
Unfair? Okay, what about Shea Patterson? He didn't accomplish what Cade did last year.
Neither did Devin Gardner. The best mobile QB in the history of the school was the last one to beat OSU and JJ is a statue compared to that guy.
It was the game manager who finally beat a very good OSU team, won a B1G Championship, and got a #2 seed in the CFP.
August 19th, 2022 at 7:38 PM ^
A game manager beat OSU and won the first B1G Championship since 2004, and got us to our first ever CFP… It was the game manager who finally beat a very good OSU team, won a B1G Championship, and got a #2 seed in the CFP.
See now here’s the problem with that statement. Cade went a combined 29/43 for 328 yards (164 per game) 1 TD and 2 INT in those two games. The game manager did not beat OSU or win the Big Ten Championship. The team did that. Haskins and his 7 TDs in those two games did that. The OL and the D did that.
What Cade did do, was not screw it up. And that’s fine, that’s what you look for in a game manager. But we can stop pretending that if we put any of the QBs of the last decade on the field for those two games the results would have been any different. If Shea or Gardner were QB last year, we still beat OSU and still win the B1G. The team around Cade was that good. Give any of those QBs a RB that has a 5 TD game and a D that gets to OSU’s QB, and there are quite a few more wins in the last few years.
Now that’s not a criticism of Cade by any means, Cade is a more than capable QB and he’s good at what he does. But the implication seems to be that he did something otherworldly to lead Michigan to a phenomenal season, and that’s simply not the case.
Mobility is a game changer? How did that work out for Joe Milton?
I’m not sure if you’ve ever watched Milton play, but he’s not that mobile… he’s a willing runner on reads, but this is a guy who is going to try to use his size to run you over in the running game, not use his speed to beat you.
August 19th, 2022 at 7:49 PM ^
Milton is not a willing runner. He's a tentative runner and goes down easy to avoid hits. 6'5" and couldn't get a yard on QB sneak. Not mobile at all.
August 19th, 2022 at 10:36 PM ^
By “willing” I meant he’ll keep the ball. The fact that he doesn’t do much with it and isn’t very effective is another issue entirely.
But he does have 66 carries in the last two years. So he’s willing to keep it. The fact that he only has 3.6 ypc is where the “Joe Milton/mobility/game changer” part is hilarious.
August 19th, 2022 at 9:13 PM ^
Exactly.
August 19th, 2022 at 8:42 PM ^
And it's Cade McNamara who turned the ball over 3 times in the most important game Michigan has played since 1998. It's Cade McNamara who threw a terrible interception against OSU. It's Cade McNamara who had 2 turnovers against Michigan State.
Nothing about the winning last year was on the back of McNamara. It was an excellent offensive line, solid running game, and solid defense -- and in my opinion, a weak Big Ten. To get to the next level of success, it takes a dynamic QB. You need a Watson, Burrow, Lawrence, Newton, Winston, Young, etc etc etc. Unless you're showing up with an Alabama or Georgia level of talent all around the field (which we aren't), then a dynamic QB is the only position that can close the gap. You can't game manage your way to a National Championship. That's how you end up looking like Michigan did against Georgia, or Notre Dame against Alabama when they got in.
August 19th, 2022 at 9:01 PM ^
Nothing about the winning last year was on the back of McNamara.
Nothing?
I will have to strongly differ with you on this. I attended 9 games/watched every game last season and Cade was far better than chopped liver last fall from start to finish until the Georgia game--- and no way JJ would have fared any better against that stacked Dawg defense. The whole Michigan offense bogged down in the Orange Bowl, not just McNamara.
August 19th, 2022 at 9:14 PM ^
JJ did fare quite a bit better against the Georgia defense.
August 19th, 2022 at 9:46 PM ^
This discussion has gotten just plain silly-on both sides.
August 19th, 2022 at 11:48 PM ^
It's pretty easy to play QB up 35-7, hand the ball off and mix some play action in there. It's a little harder when you're behind in the 4th quarter and have to score. He was 5-11 with a pick in that situation against MSU. And that defensive secondary was a raging tire fire. Michigan mostly ran the ball in similar situations against Nebraska (1 for 3) and Penn State (1 for 1--dump off to All that went for a TD).
McNamara did what was asked of him last year. But the run game and defense were the keys to what won Michigan their first conference title in 17 years. And it's really not debatable.
August 20th, 2022 at 12:34 AM ^
Debate about this year aside what game did people actually watch against Georgia? UM did in fact move the ball much better against Georgia when JJ was in the game.
August 20th, 2022 at 8:56 AM ^
The game was already decided when he was able to move the ball. People for some reason forget this.
August 19th, 2022 at 7:24 PM ^
Last year we had posters saying JJ needed to start because he was the only QB capable of beating OSU. Now the goalposts are moving after that was proven false.
August 19th, 2022 at 8:14 PM ^
I really don't care about Ohio State, Michigan State, or anyone else. I want to win actual championships. If that's not the goal, then you're already conceding. Beating your rivals is something you're supposed to do on your way to competing for championships. I also don't care about Big Ten championships. Conferences are meaningless at this point. I want to compete for an actual National Championship. Our season last year was fun until we played a real team. The only way you're beating a team like that is with a dynamic QB. And you have to beat teams like those to win a real championship.
August 19th, 2022 at 8:21 PM ^
He did more harm in that game with the awful pick than he did good with his 190 yards passing. He's billed as low risk QB, but he turned the ball over in all the big games. So what's the point? He had 3 turnovers in the biggest game of the season, and 7 total in the 4 biggest games of the year. He doesn't make enough dynamic plays to validate that.
August 19th, 2022 at 8:42 PM ^
Meanwhile, JJ McCarthy's most impactful contribution last year was losing a fumble against MSU, probably costing us the game.
We are in a good spot. We have two capable QBs. Let's not shit on the guy who helped give us our best year since 1997 though.
August 19th, 2022 at 8:44 PM ^
I didn't shit on him. I just said McCarthy has a better ceiling. We saw where the road ends with Cade.
August 19th, 2022 at 9:38 PM ^
Yes but Cade’s ceiling is higher this year than it was last year. He’s allowed to improve as well. And while JJ’s may be higher, we will assume it is, we can win with Cade’s new ceiling and higher floor. I’m good with that, for now.
August 20th, 2022 at 3:21 PM ^
Come on now... you've been doing a lot of shitting on Cade in this thread. I mean he's not a perfect QB by any stretch and you're right that he probably has a much lower ceiling than JJ but sounds to me like you have a thesis here and you're picking facts to support that. The facts you have arent wrong just carefully chosen.
August 19th, 2022 at 10:31 PM ^
Meanwhile, JJ McCarthy's most impactful contribution last year was losing a fumble against MSU, probably costing us the game.
That fumble was 100% on Corum. Source: Jim Harbaugh
August 19th, 2022 at 11:04 PM ^
Even if true - and not Harbaugh covering for him - he also fumbled on the previous series, which caused the possession to stall.
August 20th, 2022 at 7:22 PM ^
Harbaugh literally blames JJ for that first fumble, which was not lost. Don’t think he would blame him and then immediately cover for him and throw a different player under the bus. Doesn’t make sense.
It was Corum’s ball, JJ did everything right, and Corum should have had it. Pure and simple.
August 19th, 2022 at 11:11 PM ^
RobM24 and JonnyHintz, please dispense with this notion that JJ was somehow a world beater versus Georgia. He was 7/17 and threw his lone touchdown with 4 minutes left in the game! It was 27-3 late in the 3rd quarter when he took over for Cade, and he threw a garbage time touchdown at 34-3!
Further, regarding needing a dynamic quarterback or Alabama level talent to win a National Title, guess what, the Crimson Tide had their talent and the best quarterback in the country last year (Heisman winner) and they STILL only put up 18 points against Georgia. Even worse, Bama's dynamic quarterback threw the same number of interceptions against Georgia as Cade did - 2.
Wait, it gets better. In a one possession game, with 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter, Bryce Young, the most dynamic quarterback in college football, led the Bama offense to a 3 and out, and then a pick 6 which sealed the game for Georgia. No quarterback played well against that Georgia defense last season. And Cade didn't throw a pick until it was already 27-3 and heading into halftime. Further, the pick against OSU wasn't bad, it was impatient. He predetermined what he was going to do (the same redzone play to Roman Wilson vs PSU) and he got greedy. That dime to CJ made up for the earlier mistake, though.