Last season, the Michigan Wolverines won the Big Ten and advanced to the College Football Playoffs. They were led by Starting QB Cade McNamara. While he started every game for Michigan’s offense, he wasn’t asked to do much of the heavy lifting. He was 7th in the Big Ten in yards, 6th in the Big Ten in TD’s, and he was 5th in the Big Ten in QB Rating. These are rather pedestrian numbers, but McNamara did was Michigan’s offense asked him to do in 2021.
Meanwhile; JJ McCarthy was mostly sprinkled in as a change of pace to give defenses a different look. When spelling McNamara, he showed flashes of a rather tantalizing skillset. He is much more of a rushing threat, and also has the arm talent to take the top off the defense. If he can learn to harness his skillset, Michigan could have their first real star at QB since Chad Henne.
QB Battle In Ann Arbor In 2022?
Coach Harbaugh has said he expects a “Competitive Battle” to find Michigan’s best QB option in 2022. While McNamara didn’t light it up last year, I do think he was the best fit to run their offense in 2021. He was a steady hand with good leadership skills. When you have that excellent run game to lean on like they did in 2021, all they needed at QB was someone who could be relied upon to not make mistakes. However; That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the best choice to lead the offense in 2022. With more experience under his belt, JJ McCarthy has a higher ceiling. McCarthy could also take Michigan’s offense to a higher level resulting in more points being scored.
In Conclusion
My prediction is that Cade McNamara starts the 2022 season as Michigan’s Starting QB on September 3rd. He had a solid first year as a starter and led the Wolverines to their first conference Championship since 2004. However; I think JJ McCarthy will eventually outplay McNamara in a game and take over the starting job mid-season. Cade is a solid QB and good leader. However I just think the upside of JJ McCarthy Quarterbacking this offense in 2022 will be too good to pass up. Coach Harbaugh looks to repeat as Big Ten Champions and make another run at a National Title.
