The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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8 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW MICHIGAN FOOTBALL The argument can be made that no team in the entire country has more quarterback tal- ent on its 2018 roster than Michigan. The Wolverines have four signal-callers who were rated as either a four- or five-star recruit out of high school by Rivals.com, a feat that only two other programs can boast — Texas and Washington. To get a better understanding of just how rare it is to stockpile such a high quantity of talented field generals, consider this: only three other teams (out of 130) in the entire nation — Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State — even have three quarterbacks who held a Rivals.com four-star ranking or higher out of high school. When diving a bit deeper into the numbers, it's clear that Michigan's group — junior Shea Patterson, redshirt freshman Dylan Mc- Caffrey, redshirt sophomore Brandon Peters and freshman Joe Milton — was more highly touted during its prep days than the Texas quartet of sophomore Sam Ehlinger, junior Shane Buechele, and freshmen Cameron Ris- ing and Casey Thompson. A big advantage for U-M is that it has a five-star in its bunch in Patterson, while the highest-rated signal-caller on the Longhorns' roster is Ehlinger, who was Rivals.com's No. 115 overall player coming out of high school. Plus, all four of the Wolverines' quar- terbacks were ranked among the top 200 prior to college, while only three were for the Burnt Orange (Ehlinger, Buechele and Rising). Washington, meanwhile, is the only other school whose quarterback talent rivals Michi- gan's. The Huskies feature a five-star on their roster in junior Jacob Eason, and another signal-caller that was among the top 100 during his prep days in senior Jake Brown- ing (No. 84). Like U-M, all four of Washington's quarter- backs were also rated among the top 200. What separates the Maize and Blue's and Huskies' quarterbacks from the rest of the pack, though, is experience. They are the only two programs on the list to have two quarter- backs who are at least a redshirt sophomore or older (Patterson and Peters for Michigan, plus Browning and Eason for Washington). — Austin Fox U-M's Collection Of Talent At Quarterback Is Among The Best Nationally Among U-M quarterbacks, redshirt freshman Dylan McCaffrey was ranked second highest (behind No. 3 overall prospect Shea Patterson), checking in at No. 131 nationally by Rivals.com. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN Team Year Stars Rank Alabama Jalen Hurts Jr. 4 231 Tua Tagovailoa So. 4 53 Mac Jones R-Fr. 4 162 Clemson Kelly Bryant Sr. 4 — Trevor Lawrence Fr. 5 1 Chase Brice R-Fr. 4 184 Michigan Shea Patterson Jr. 5 3 Dylan McCaffrey R-Fr. 4 131 Brandon Peters R-So. 4 158 Joe Milton Fr. 4 200 Ohio State Dwayne Haskins R-So. 4 100 Tate Martell R-Fr. 4 39 Matthew Baldwin Fr. 4 — Texas Sam Ehlinger So. 4 115 Shane Buechele Jr. 4 116 Cameron Rising Fr. 4 149 Casey Thompson Fr. 4 — Washington Jake Browning Sr. 4 84 Jacob Eason Jr. 5 7 Jacob Sirmon Fr. 4 139 Colson Yankoff Fr. 4 153 FBS Teams With Three Or More Four- And Five-Star Quarterbacks On Their Rosters