Michigan Football: Shea Patterson gives Wolverines significant upgrade

Shea Patterson made it official on Monday following his visit to Ann Arbor, announcing on Twitter that he will further is career with Michigan football.

It’s official, Shea Patterson is now a Wolverine.

Patterson, who will move on from Mississippi as the program takes on penalties from several issues under former head coach Hugh Freeze, is expected to attempt to earn a waiver through the NCAA to make him eligible immediately. Typically, non-graduate transfers would be forced to sit out a season, but it is believed that the NCAA will allow special cases to be clear of that decision.

Either way, the addition of Patterson — be it for the 2018 season or in 2019 — gives the Wolverines and head coach Jim Harbaugh a significant upgrade at the position.

Patterson, a 6-2, 203-pound sophomore from Shreveport, La., stepped in last year as an injury replacement for Chad Kelly and threw for 880 yards and six touchdowns.

This past season, Patterson completed 166-of-260 passes for 2,259 yards and 17 touchdowns with nine interceptions, as Ole Miss went 6-6.  Patterson missed the final five games after suffering a torn PCL in a 40-24 loss to LSU back in October.

Jordan Ta’amu took over for Patterson and led the team to wins over Kentucky and rival Mississippi State down the stretch, throwing for 1,682 yards and 11 touchdowns with five interceptions. The junior completed 115 of 173 passes and also ran for 165 yards.

If he is given clearance to compete this coming fall, Patterson will be the favorite to replace John O’Korn and Wilton Speight, who are both set to depart the program. O’Korn replaced Speight after he suffered an injury, throwing for 956 yards and just two touchdowns with six interceptions.

Speight had 581 yards and three scores with two picks through three-plus games before missing the remainder of the season.

Michigan eventually turned the quarterback job over to sophomore Brandon Peters, who passed for 486 yards on 58 percent completion with four touchdowns and no interceptions. The Wolverines went 3-1 with Peters under center, but he was injured and did not play in the season-ending loss to Ohio State, as O’Korn returned for that contest.

The depth chart also features freshman Dylan McCaffrey, a top recruit and the younger brother of former Stanford standout and current NFL running back Christian McCaffrey and sophomore Michael Sessa.

Over the weekend, Patterson and fellow former Rebel Deontay Anderson visited Michigan to tour the campus and take in the Wolverines basketball game with UCLA. The two were welcomed by snow to Michigan Stadium, but that didn’t keep them from enjoying their surroundings.

Doesn’t look like the snow bothers him at all.

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The Wolverines will be on the rise with Patterson at quarterback as opposed to Wilton Speight and John O’Korn.