Ole Miss quarterback Shea Patterson has announced that he will be transferring to Michigan:
— Shea Patterson (@SheaPatterson_1) December 11, 2017
I wrote a piece on the possibility of Patterson transferring in last week (LINK), and just as a refresher, I’ve had my eye on Patterson since Michigan recruited him out of high school, when I had him #2 on my QB wish list (LINK). (Coincidentally, there had been rumors about the #1 guy, Jacob Eason, also being interested in transferring to Michigan from Georgia.)
Hit the jump for more on Patterson’s commitment.
If Patterson is eligible to play immediately in 2018, then I believe he will beat out Brandon Peters for the #1 job. I had Patterson ranked higher, and I think he’s a better playmaker. But it’s not a foregone conclusion. Peters was playing well and threw for 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions this season. Meanwhile, Patterson was completing 63.8% of his passes for 2,259 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions before he got hurt this past season.
One concern is that Patterson did not play well against elite teams (0 TD, 5 INT vs. #4 Alabama and #16 LSU), but he played for a 6-6 team going through some turmoil with an interim coach (who has since been named the permanent head coach). He will be surrounded by better overall talent at Michigan, and he will have a better coach.
This is a good thing for Michigan, regardless of what happens with the rest of the quarterback depth chart. It would be frustrating as a young quarterback to see an established starter transfer in, but at the same time, Jim Harbaugh can’t wait for the young guys to matriculate and mature. So far Harbaugh has been playing three 3-star recruits (Jake Rudock, Wilton Speight, and John O’Korn) with limited upside, and now he’s getting to a stage where there can be a true battle between 4-star or higher prospects (Patterson, Peters, Dylan McCaffrey, Joe Milton). If one of those players decides to remove himself from the competition, then . . . well . . . that’s how competition works sometimes.
Meanwhile, it has yet to be made public whether safety Deontay Anderson and wide receiver Van Jefferson will follow Patterson to Michigan. Both were recruited by the Wolverines coming out of high school, and the depth chart could be inviting. Anderson could probably start immediately, if not replace Tyree Kinnel by 2019. And while Michigan has some young receivers with talent, Jefferson would probably be no lower than fourth on the overall depth chart, behind Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tarik Black, and Grant Perry. Whether the NCAA makes them sit out 2018 or not could be the determining factor in whether they choose to leave Oxford.
Michigan will now have five quarterbacks on the 2018 roster: Patterson (Jr.), Peters (RS So.), McCaffrey (RS Fr.), Milton (Fr.), and Kevin Doyle (Fr.). It also brings the planned roster to 86 scholarship players, which means at least one more current scholarship guy will have to depart.
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Awesome pickup. I’m still not as excited as most as i think Peters is better, but if it starts a domino effect of the other Ole Mich kids coming over as well then all the better. Plus i’ve read that the offense will have more shotgun sets as compared to last year because of him so we’ll see. Go Blue!
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I was 1 of the ones that wasn’t too warm about bringing in Ole Miss players but hey If he’s now part of the Team then in my view there’s no Life In The Past Lane & it becomes a clean slate.
Great depth at QB – needed for 2018 for sure. Welcome To the Young Man and…….
Go Blue………….INTJohn
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not too warm? ok, if thats how you want to frame it. then again your posts can be a little tough to comprehend with ideas jumping all over the place – not to mention intentionally misspelling words like cant as kant (among other oddities that cant possibly be keyboard shortcuts to save time). no biggie though, if youre on board now thats great bc apparently hes a wolverine. not sure hell start but hes a nice player whos addition likely only helps the team
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Not convinced he will beat out Peters based on what Brian Cook described. The Tate Forcier gun-slinging comparison brings back bad memories. Can’t imagine Harbaugh tolerating undisciplined play from his starter, if what Brian says is accurate.
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I think there’s a big difference between what he was asked to do at Ole Miss and what he’ll be asked to do at Michigan. And Michigan has a better coaching staff. I think Harbaugh will tweak some things if Patterson is the QB, but when you’re in shootouts or playing from a big deficit like he was at times this year, there are going to be times where you have to be a “gunslinger.”
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Yes this. When you have multiple RBs seeing who can get to 200 yards first and a defense that keeping first downs in the single digits your job is very different than when you’re trying to hang 50 on somebody to keep up.
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If we snagged Little, I think we could be a contender for the B1G next year.
I watched some tape on Patterson and while he looks good, I don’t think he’s a major upgrade over Peters. Very happy for some QB depth when we had to go deep in the roster this year, but we need a more competent OL so we don’t have to go deep into said roster.
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1. Wanted Patterson. Glad he is here. Welcome.
2. I do think Peters can and will win the job.
3. I like Patterson because he brings something unique to the position. I see both of them getting PT.
4. Patterson reminds me some of Manziel
5. Patterson is Harbaugh like and Peters is Grbac like
6. Patterson may be better with weaker OL pass pro
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Nice work:
5. Patterson is Harbaugh like and Peters is Grbac like
6. Patterson may be better with weaker OL pass pro
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By the way, Patterson is a guy who can run the wildcat properly unlike what UM has been doing with Evans and Peppers. Don’t be surprised if Patterson is is running wildcat more than a few times a game if not for series.
This is a really good pickup. I think people are missing the wildcat variable going forward. Also, nice to have this during poor weather games. Does the recent MSU game ring a bell?
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Hope they sort out the 2018 eligibility issue. I think it’s a situation that could backfire if not.
I don’t know why people think Peters will hold off Patterson based on what they’ve done so far. Patterson produced 1,000 yards in 3 games against TAMU, Vanderbilt, and Miss St as a freshman when Peters was holding John O’Korn’s clipboard. This year he threw for over 2,000 while Michigan was too afraid to let Peters do much of anything (barely breaking 300 yards in 3 starts).
I think some people have talked themselves into Peters because that’s what they want to believe. (Some of those same people said Kyle Kalis was ready to start as a true freshman on the OL but was just being held back to maintain the red-shirt).
Patterson struggled against Alabama and LSU — in that he has company. You heard the same stuff about Speight against tough competition. Peters struggled against Wisconsin too. This is what elite defenses do.
Agree with Thunder about the level of talent moving up and that’s of course a good thing in general but if it drives away another returning player and he isn’t eligible in 2018 it could spell some problems.
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Risk vs. reward. Need to win now.
I think Peters is the better guy for this pro style offense and should develop even more but your point is well taken.
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Based on what I’ve seen out of Patterson, he puts up huge numbers against nobody or in garbage time.
His true freshman season, he had a great 2nd half against A&M. If you haven’t seen it, you should definitely watch it. But that’s a defense that didn’t have any film on him. After that his team lost to Vanderbilt and Miss St. the following two games with him starting, both teams finished 5-7.
In 2017, he had great games against South Alabama and UT Martin. His Cal game ok. Alabama was not good. LSU was bad.
Put up a great QBR against Auburn, but they were down 35-3. He couldn’t convert a 3rd or 4th down anytime they entered Auburn territory in the first half.
Put up a great QBR against 5-7 Vanderbilt.
Peters was doing enough to win the games he was playing. Based on what I’ve seen out of him, I think he could be a great quarterback. Will he start next year? I have no idea if it’s going to be him, Patterson, or McCaffrey, but I’ll root for whoever wins the job, and I’m happy with knowing we have three highly touted guys ready to line up behind center. I think it’s probably 45/45/10 respectively, and I’m very excited about 2018 and 2019.
Go blue.
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I was happy to finally see a QB who could hit his RB in stride on screen plays. Seemed to be able to get the ball out quickly as well, but that probably was helped by being in shotgun all the time (which makes me wonder why we didn’t try the same this year). Determining factor on who starts this year is dependent on how quickly he is able to learn to take direct snaps and drop back, as well as reading the defense himself instead of looking towards the sideline.
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Patterson needs to be refined as does Peters. They both bring unique things to the table but coach Harbaugh needs to get at least one of them to take a solid step forward.
Patterson looks like he can cover up some warts on the OL. He also looks like he is wild and can undermine his team because of his athleticism. I agree with JC. I think Peters can definitely win the job but he reminds me of a guy who needs someone to push him. I wish I could take the two qb’s (moxie and natural thrower) and combine them.
My original thoughts on this issue still stand. I see Patterson as a guy who will be playing the wildcat. He is going to be the change up/change of pace guy who can clearly throw a defense for a loop and Peters is going to be the Pro Style pocket passer who will win the job.
Nothing wrong with this if both guys are okay with it. Can they co-exist for the betterment of the team? Very different qb’s and if Patterson is willing to accept this change of pace role then this can be a great thing.
Harbaugh loves that wildcat. He keeps going back to it even though the guy running it (Evans) can’t throw the ball. Well coach, now you have your wildcat guy.
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Look at the stats
CMP ATT % Yards TD Int
238 392 60 3139 23 12
37 64 57 486 4 0
That includes games against Alabama, Auburn, and LSU this year as well as 3 games he was tossed out there to play as a true freshman for Patterson
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Sorry about the bad formatting but it looked better before I hit submit. And my personal thoughts are that Patterson is way to good to come in as a wildcat type QB. While you may think of him as a Forcier type QB, I see him closer to a Mayfield. If you can add a Mayfield type to your team you don’t use him as a gimmick.
Peters hasn’t put enough out there yet to show me he’s ready to go. And with the way he was 3rd in line this year as well as what they asked him to do, I feel the coaches may have their doubts as well.
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Your definition of “wildcat” is not the same as mine. Patterson’s not a Wildcat QB. Michael Barrett is a Wildcat QB. Ronnie Brown was a Wildcat type of guy. Shea Patterson is a pro-style guy who can move, or he’s a dual-threat guy who doesn’t have great speed. Either way, he’s not a Wildcat quarterback. I do think Harbaugh can do some more varied things with Patterson, use the pistol formation more, run some more read options, etc., but the offense isn’t going to be a ton different (schematically) than it was with John O’Korn. O’Korn could move pretty well and made some great plays to escape the pass rush, and while Patterson is better at it, I think O’Korn gives you a little glimpse at how this could go.
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I believe Patterson will be playing wildcat on occasion especially if he doesn’t win the job.
My point is that he will be playing the wildcat and not Evans or Peters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHpRRpnpoBA
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It should be a great battle!
Mac has a year in the system; Peters has 2.5; Shae has the experience & escapability, but will be coming in behind on the playbook…
I just don’t see him coming here of all places, without starting tight off the bat
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On the strength of maybe 40 minutes of video, I’m thinking between Peters and Patterson,Peters comes out on top. Peters is more accurate, and not significantly less mobile, if at all. I think Patterson may have hurt himself were with this decision.
I keep hearing that McCafferty is the real pick of this litter, but who knows? Only the Harbaugh knows … maybe. At least for now.
I can see a scenario in which McCafferty wins this thing and both Peters and Patterson head out for greater pastures, leaving us with Milton and the kid from DC for depth. I blame Borges. Although, I got hit and run on I-94 last week,. I’m blaming Borges for that too.
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