Michigan Football: 3 storylines to follow in spring 2021

1. Quarterback battle

It seems like every year, fans are teased about the progress of the quarterback position. The Shea Patterson era was a perfect example of that. He got better throughout his career but we always heard about how he was going to be a Heisman front-runner. That never happened.

Then it was hype about Joe Milton being the best quarterback Jim Harbaugh ever recruited. He had the strong arm, but there was no sign of him being an accurate passer.

But talk from the coaching staff and one of his mentors Devin Gardner made it seem like he had turned a corner and the Heisman Trophy was his to lose. He was going to lead the Wolverines to a Big Ten title finally and he earned comparisons to Cam Newton.

While that was completely unfair, it seemed to follow a theme in Ann Arbor: over-hyping quarterbacks was an offseason tradition.

There’s another quarterback battle brewing in Ann Arbor with Milton and Dylan McCaffrey gone. Cade McNamara is back after a decent performance in 2020 and JJ McCarthy was one of the best quarterbacks in the 2021 class as a five-star and could push for the starting job. Don’t forget Alan Bowman is transferring in from Texas Tech.

The quarterback battle will be something to watch.