Ranking Michigan’s Quarterbacks

Tag: Jake Rudock


9Mar 2023
Blog, homepage 193 comments

Ranking Michigan’s Quarterbacks

Drew Henson (image via Detroit News)

This was originally posted on March 17, 2017. It has been updated following the 2022 season.

Sports fans love to debate the greatness of players and rank them in order from most revered to most despised. And while despised probably doesn’t fit any of these players, since they played for the University of Michigan, we all have our favorites. I have endeavored to achieve the un-possible: Rank all of Michigan’s starting quarterbacks.

Okay, that’s too tall of a task for me right now. I’m working up to it. So I’m only going back to 1995, which was the beginning of the Lloyd Carr era. That’s the earliest full coaching tenure where I can count on my recollections of Michigan football. I was a big fan of Bo Schembechler, Gary Moeller, and the Michigan Wolverines before then, but I’ll be damned if I say I was aware enough to understand what was happening on the field.

This ranking only takes into account what the quarterbacks achieved wearing the winged helmet. High school highlight tapes and NFL performance aren’t taken into account. (After all, we can agree that Tom Brady is far and away the best quarterback who ever played the game of football, and that includes Uncle Rico.)

So if you were starting a season with your pick of any Michigan QB since 1995, which one would you take?

On with the show:

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3Aug 2020
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All-Harbaugh Team: Offense

Jake Butt (image via Bleacher Report)

Thanks to Joe for the generous Paypal contribution over the weekend! It was much appreciated. After getting paid by Amazon, AdSense, etc. for the month of June, that was actually the roughest financial month since I started keeping track in August 2012 . . . and the second worst month in that span was April 2020. That’s fitting, of course, since we’re in the middle of a pandemic and a recession and everything. Anyway, if you would like to contribute, here’s the link:

I like to take a look back at the careers of Michigan’s recent coaches and see which players had the best seasons. After five years at Michigan’s helm, it’s time for a look at Jim Harbaugh’s tenure in Ann Arbor.

QUARTERBACK: 2015 Jake Rudock
Rudock, a former starter at Iowa, decided to grad transfer to Michigan for his final year of eligibility. Unlike some grad transfers who spend the spring at their new school, Rudock did not practice with Michigan until fall camp. Through seven weeks of the season, Rudock threw for 5 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. But when he heated up toward the end of the season, he really heated up. Over the final six contests, he threw 15 touchdowns and just 3 picks on his way to a 10-3 overall record in Harbaugh’s first year. His final stats included 249/389 (64.0%) on completions, 3017 yards, 20 touchdowns, 9 interceptions; he also ran for 166 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Hit the jump for more.

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31Dec 2019
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Michigan’s All-Decade Team: 2010-2019

Taylor Lewan

There are probably some controversial choices here – starting with the quarterback choice – but if I were putting together an all-star squad from the 2010-2019 seasons, here’s who I would want on my team.

QUARTERBACK: Jake Rudock
RUNNING BACK: Fitzgerald Toussaint
FULLBACK/H-BACK: Khalid Hill
WIDE RECEIVER: Jeremy Gallon
WIDE RECEIVER: Junior Hemingway
TIGHT END: Jake Butt
OFFENSIVE TACKLE: Taylor Lewan
OFFENSIVE GUARD: Ben Bredeson
CENTER: David Molk
OFFENSIVE GUARD: Patrick Omameh
OFFENSIVE TACKLE: Mason Cole
OFFENSIVE ALL-PURPOSE: Denard Robinson

DEFENSIVE END: Chase Winovich
DEFENSIVE END: Taco Charlton
DEFENSIVE TACKLE: Maurice Hurst, Jr.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE: Mike Martin
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER: Jake Ryan
INSIDE LINEBACKER: Devin Bush, Jr.
INSIDE LINEBACKER: Ben Gedeon
CORNERBACK: Jourdan Lewis
CORNERBACK: David Long
SAFETY: Jarrod Wilson
SAFETY: Dymonte Thomas
NICKEL: Jabrill Peppers
DEFENSIVE ALL-PURPOSE: Jordan Kovacs

PUNTER: Will Hart
KICKER: Kenny Allen
PUNT RETURNER: Donovan Peoples-Jones
KICKOFF RETURNER: Giles Jackson