Tag: Jack Tuttle

Transfer Portal Shopping List

The transfer portal opens up on Tuesday, April 16, and lots of schools are going to be shopping. With spring games out of the way for many programs – and Michigan’s coming up this Saturday – we’re enough of the way through spring ball to be aware of some roster deficiencies going into the fall.

Here are the top three positions Michigan should be looking for in the transfer portal prior to August camp:

1. QUARTERBACK
I know there are some big Alex Orji fans out there, but . . . I’m not one of them. At least not yet. Orji was a project coming out of high school, and in his second season in a Michigan uniform, he did not attempt a single pass. Yes, he can run at 6’3″ and 236 pounds (15 carries, 86 yards, 1 touchdown in 2023), but I’m on the record as a Passing QB Enthusiast. While I’m not a proponent of statuesque quarterbacks, championship teams have good passers and decision-makers, not run-first quarterbacks. I don’t think Michigan has the roster to win an FBS championship in 2024, anyway, but I don’t think they’re going to hit their ceiling without finding a quarterback who can pass the ball efficiently. Some of the big names have already found a new home, but perhaps the Wolverines can find the 2024 version of Jake Rudock, a solid passing quarterback who led Michigan to ten wins back in 2015. Others in the running are seventh-year senior Jack Tuttle and redshirt sophomore Jayden Denegal, but Tuttle had shoulder surgery and Denegal needs some polish since he’s not quite as dangerous as a runner as Orji.

Hit the jump for more.

2024 Spring Football Preview: Quarterback

2023 Starter: J.J. McCarthy
Loss: McCarthy
Returning players: Jack Tuttle (7th), Davis Warren (RS Jr.), Jayden Denegal (RS So.), Alex Orji (RS So.)
Newcomer: Jadyn Davis (Fr.)
Projected starter: Tuttle

There are a lot of unknowns going into the 2024 season, but first among all of them is the quarterback position. Michigan got a great performance from McCarthy in 2023, who goes down in history as the program’s best college quarterback ever after going 27-1 as a starter and winning a national championship.

But as of right now, Michigan is heading into the season with its cloudiest quarterback situation since perhaps 2009, when freshman Tate Forcier beat out freshman Denard Robinson and 2008 part-time starter Nick Sheridan. Michigan has significantly more experience on its side at the position in 2024, considering Tuttle is a 7th year senior and there are no freshmen – sorry, Jadyn Davis – who truly seem to be in the mix to start.

The first guy to get reps should be Tuttle, who has been named a starter before – albeit at Indiana – and ascended to #2 on the depth chart in 2023, during his first year in Ann Arbor. He completed 15/17 passes for 130 yards and 1 touchdown, a whopping 88.7% completion percentage. And the #1 most impressive thing about him in the spring of 2023 was his willingness and ability to run. He’s a former top-100 recruit, even if he was coming out of high school back when Barack Obama was president (don’t look that up).

The sexy pick is 6’3″, 235 lb. Alex Orji, who was brought in as a quasi single-wing quarterback last year but who didn’t attempt a pass. He’s capable of throwing lasers, which can be seen on his high school film and from last year’s spring game, but it’s noteworthy that the coaching staff didn’t trust him to throw last year. To go from attempting zero passes to becoming a starter would be . . . well . . . the first time since 2009 that Michigan would entrust a quarterback to start who hadn’t attempted a single pass during the previous season.

Offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell says Jayden Denegal (4/5, 50 yards, 1 TD) is the most improved offensive player, but he was a guy who was very raw coming into the program in 2022. Walk-on Davis Warren has looked good at times, but he had a rough go in limited time last season (0/5, 1 INT). Meanwhile, freshman Jadyn Davis is an early enrollee who has a winning pedigree, but his limited size (6’0″, 202), lack of an amazing arm, and lack of difference-making athleticism make him more of a threat to start down the road when experience and knowledge of the offense put him a notch above the field. To play as a freshman, you typically need some athletic trait that sets you apart – size, speed, arm strength – and that’s not Davis’s game.

Jack Tuttle receives an extra year of eligibility

Quarterback Jack Tuttle has received a seventh year of eligibility. Tuttle originally signed with Utah before ultimately playing the first five years of his career at Indiana. He then transferred to Michigan in 2023, along with tight end teammate A.J. Barner.

Tuttle began the 2023 season as a third-stringer, but as he learned the playbook, he moved up the depth chart and became the primary backup to starter J.J. McCarthy. Down the stretch Michigan used Alex Orji as a running threat in the College Football Playoff, but Orji did not attempt a pass all season.

Tuttle completed 15/17 passes for 130 yards and 1 touchdown last year. For his college career, he has completed 119/199 passes (59.8%) for 1,031 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. He has also run 54 times for 114 yards.

Injuries have been an issue for Tuttle over his career – thus the granting of a seventh year – and he has only played in 22 games over six seasons. While it might make sense to pencil him in as Michigan’s starter in 2024, considering he was the top backup, there are perhaps better physical specimens on the roster. Orji has a stronger arm but much less experience. Jayden Denegal also has much less experience, but at 6’4″ and 235 pounds, he also brings a size element that the 6’4″, 210 lb. Tuttle doesn’t possess.

It’s also still possible that Michigan will explore the transfer portal when the portal opens in mid-April.

Depth chart by experience:

• Jack Tuttle (Seventh Year Senior)
• Davis Warren (RS Jr.)
• Jayden Denegal (RS So.)
• Alex Orji (RS So.)
• Jadyn Davis (Fr.)

Michigan 52, Indiana 7

Run the damn ball. Coming into the game, Indiana was ranked #91 in rushing defense. And it was raining. So naturally, Michigan decided to come out throwing, with four pass plays and two rushes in the first six plays. Two of those pass plays resulted in sacks, and one was a drop by Colston Loveland. Meanwhile, the two carries by Corum averaged 4.5 yards per rush. Michigan wasn’t necessarily going to obliterate Indiana on the ground with huge runs, but they could have just taken over the game physically instead of trying to throw in those conditions.

Hit the jump for more.

2023 Season Countdown: #30 Jack Tuttle

Name: Jack Tuttle
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 210 lbs.
High school: San Marcos (CA) Mission Hills
Position: Quarterback
Class: Sixth year senior
Jersey number: #13
Last year: Tuttle played for Indiana. He completed 9/12 passes for 82 yards and 1 touchdown, while also running 10 times for 8 yards.
TTB Rating: N/A

Tuttle enrolled at Utah way back in 2018 before deciding that was a bad idea, and then he transferred to Indiana for the past four years, which . . . I guess he was there for a couple decent Indiana years, but generally going to Bloomington is a bad idea if you’re a football player. On the plus side for him, he was on the only Indiana team of the last 763 years to beat Michigan, which was in The Year That Shall Not Be Mentioned.

(Pssssst…it was 2020.)

Tuttle spent last season as the backup to Missouri transfer Connor Bazelak, but shortly after being inserted in place of an injured Bazelak, he was injured himself, giving way to third-stringer Dexter Williams II, who was bad at throwing but still good enough to beat Michigan State. It was a mess of a situation. Tuttle completed 9/12 passes for 82 yards and touchdown against PSU in his only action.

Overall, Tuttle completed 104/182 passes for 901 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions during his career as a Hoosier. He looked gutsy in the spring game, and he can run a little bit, but he’s not exactly a star in the making. At this point it seems like he will end up as the #2 quarterback, but I would not be surprised if Davis Warren is pushing him in practice enough to get a shot at being the primary backup. That being said, Tuttle was a team captain at Indiana and seemed to have some moxie. I think Michigan will win enough blowout games this season to see the #2 guy get a good chunk of snaps. Do you get Davis Warren some seasoning because he has two more seasons of eligibility? Or do you let the “more proven” commodity play just in case you need him for an emergency situation down the stretch, even though this is his final year in college?

Only time will tell.

Prediction: Backup quarterback