Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh plans to play quarterbacks Shea Patterson and Dylan McCaffrey this upcoming season.
Patterson is one of the best quarterbacks in America and was dominant at times last season. Yet, McCaffrey will be on the field getting snaps this season after only throwing for 126 yards last season.
Harbaugh said the following during Big 10 media day Friday when discussing Patterson and McCaffrey, according to the Detroit Free Press:
Yeah, I do (see games where they’ll both play). Where it stands right now, and that could change later or not, is I see them both playing. Where it stands right now, I see it as maybe redefining what a starter is…. I’m really not talking about playing them both at the same time (on a play), when I say both in games it’d be they’re both playing quarterback during the same game. And in the way it stands now, in every game.
The only way this makes sense is if Michigan is really worried about McCaffrey transferring out of the program. He was a major recruit coming out of high school in 2017 and hasn’t really seen the field much so far for the Wolverines. (RELATED: July Is The Final Month Of 2019 Without College Football)
Players of his caliber don’t like sitting on the bench, and he could transfer to another major program in a heartbeat if he wanted to.
The fear of a transfer is the only explanation makes sense.
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Even if that’s the case, taking reps away from Patterson is a really bad idea. You don’t put one of the best quarterbacks in America on the sidelines to appease somebody else on the roster. You just don’t do it.
When you have a star like Patterson, you give him every single snap unless it’s a blowout or he’s hurt. If he’s healthy, then you let him get all the reps.
As a Badgers fan, I would way rather have McCaffrey under center than Patterson. The latter is a better player and much tougher for defenses to plan for. His mobility makes it hell on Earth when it comes to scheming.
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It should be interesting to see how much of the snaps Harbaugh actually ends up splitting. If Patterson sees substantial time on the bench, fans of the Wolverines should be very angry because it’d be a very dumb move.