For the first time since his introductory press conference, new Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore spoke with the media on Thursday. One of the biggest parts of his job this season is trying to find a replacement for outgoing quarterback, J.J. McCarthy. It won’t be an easy task by any means. McCarthy left Michigan after three seasons and will go down as one of the best signal callers in the history of the program. He left the Wolverines after winning three Big Ten titles, helping Michigan beat Ohio State three years in a row, and going out with a bang by winning the national title against Washington.
Moore was asked to give a little breakdown of the quarterbacks in the room. Moore, who was the offensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh the past two seasons, has a good understanding of what each QB brings to the table after spending time with them the last one-to-three seasons.
“Start with the oldest, Jack, ‘Uncle Jack’ they call him,” said Moore. “A guy that’s played a lot of football. He’s got a great arm, great ability to run, can be a dual-threat guy but also very cerebral in the pocket. So a guy that can do that for you, he’s been very impressive, everything he’s done in the past and just excited for him.”
“Alex Orji, obviously a freak athlete. Really the ability for him to be a game-changer with the ball in his hand, running the football is what he really has a different element from the other guys we’ve seen it in the past. But it’s not like he can’t throw. He can and he’s throwing pretty well as he’s gone through the spring time.”
“Jayden Denegal, taller, more of a pocket guy. As we go through, probably more of a pocket passer.”
“Davis Warren, probably kind of has a little bit of a mix of all of them as well. A little bit smaller in stature, but very cerebral with a good arm.”
“Jadyn Davis, the young freshman. very excited about him. He’s picked up stuff super fast. But you never know with a freshman. So we’ll see but he has all the abilities. So excited for him. He’s kind of a mix of all of them, he can do a little bit of everything. So super excited for him.”
Moore said “we’ll see” on if Michigan might roll with a two-quarterback system, or settle in with a starter before the season kicks off. While Tuttle is “working through something”, Moore said all the QBs are competing and are having fun going against the best defense in the country on a daily basis.
“They’ve all been competing it’s super fun to watch them do it,” Moore said on Thursday. “We’ll see what happens. I love where they’re at right now, love the mentality and the competitive nature. Plus, how they’re all getting after it, they’re all complementing each other. They’re competing at a high level so we’re just super excited and it’s great to go against our defense, best defense in the country. Even on the other side, those guys are practicing so hard. Everybody is practicing hard. It was a great environment yesterday in practice. Excited to see it as we continue to take off.”
The Wolverines will continue to use spring practice to figure out their QB situation. You can get a chance to check them all out on Saturday April 20 during the Michigan spring game.
