The most talked about position involving Michigan football this spring and summer is the quarterback. The Wolverines lose their two-year starting quarterback and All-Big Ten member, J.J. McCarthy who entered the NFL Draft following his junior season.
So who gets the first nod at quarterback this fall? According to Michigan offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell, all five scholarship quarterbacks are going to get an equal opportunity to seize the starting job. Campbell said the way Michigan will go about things is from oldest down to the youngest quarterback when fall camp opens on Wednesday.
“We’re just gonna start with the oldest down to the youngest. Simple as that,” Campbell said. “Starting out that way, and that’s a fluid operation that will change daily. We’ll make sure everybody gets the opportunity to run with the ones and we’ll evaluate it, a day-by-day process.”
Which means the current Michigan depth chart would be: Jack Tuttle, Davis Warren, Alex Orji, Jayden Dengegal, and Jadyn Davis. Campbell emphasized each player will get an opportunity. He had the same sentiments back in April following Michigan’s Spring Game and it appears the Wolverines will have that same philosophy this fall.
Campbell told the media on Tuesday this is the fourth time since 2019 (Penn State) he’s been involved in settling a quarterback battle. He believes the process to determine a starter is important and is not one to rush.
“What I’ve learned from all of those is obviously you have a deadline that you have to make a decision. That’s the first game, right?” Campbell said. “But you don’t want to rush the decision, right? You got to make sure you prepare those guys.”
Campbell believes taking a day-by-day evaluation of the quarterbacks is the correct approach to do. Picking a starter too early could lead to negative situations down the road if the coaching staff later realizes they made a mistake. Giving each player ample opportunity to earn the starting job will give the coaching staff all the evaluation they may need.
“And if you make the decision too early, you could put yourself in a situation that halfway through the season, you’re trying to fix that thing and go in a different direction. You want to make sure that you take your time, you do a thorough process, evaluate each practice, evaluate each meeting, evaluate how they interact with the players, and then make the best decision for the team.”