Tag: Jayden Denegal

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.

What should Michigan do at QB in 2024?

It was a very understandable move, but Michigan suffered a big blow on Sunday when incumbent starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy announced he would be entering the 2024 NFL Draft. McCarthy is a two-year starter who went 27-1 in that role and won a national championship. According to draft projections I’ve seen, he’s considered to be a potential 1st round pick and is thought to be anywhere from the #3 to the #6 quarterback in the class. He could come back in 2024 and potentially be the #1 quarterback on the board for the 2025 draft, but it looks like that won’t happen.

So where should Michigan turn for a quarterback in 2024?

JADYN DAVIS (6’0″, 202 lb. freshman)
2023 season stats (high school): 204/288, 3370 yards, 43 touchdowns, 9 interceptions
The argument: Davis, from Charlotte (NC) Providence Day, is a 4-star recruit, the #7 quarterback, and #93 overall in the class of 2024. Michigan recruited Davis hard and put most of their eggs in his basket during the cycle, so the coaching staff really likes him. While he’s ranked anywhere from #61 to #116 overall by three of the four main recruiting sites, the fourth – On3 – has him all the way down at #218. One thing that really helps true freshman quarterbacks be successful is some kind of physical advantage – speed, size, and/or a cannon for an arm – but Davis has none of the above. He’s more of a game manager in the mold of Cade McNamara, and while McNamara did eventually captain his team to a very successful season, it wasn’t until his third year on campus.

Hit the jump for more.

2023 Season Countdown: #104 Jayden Denegal

Name: Jayden Denegal
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 238 lbs.
High school: Apple Valley (CA) Apple Valley
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #14
Last year: I ranked Denegal #97 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He played in one game.
TTB Rating: 61

Denegal may have been regarded as a better passing quarterback than classmate Alex Orji last season, but it turned out that Michigan didn’t really need a passer. They didn’t really need Orji as a runner, either. They mostly just needed J.J. McCarthy and a few backups to take garbage time snaps (though Cade McNamara did start one unimpressive game before getting injured). Denegal got into the UConn game to hand off the ball, and that was it.

While McNamara is off to Iowa, McCarthy returns and will be backed up by some combination of Jack Tuttle and/or Davis Warren. Orji has earned some off-season hype because he’s 6’3″ and 235 lbs., looks really strong, and can run and jump and do fun things to watch. Some people have been clamoring for Orji to get the Dan Villari treatment and come in for some occasional running plays.

No one is clamoring for Denegal at this point. Buzz out of practice has been next to nil, but that’s what tends to happen for the quarterback who is roughly fifth on the depth chart. With McCarthy possibly gone in 2024, maybe he will get a chance to vie for the starting job next season, but for now it seems like he will be buried on the depth chart for at least one season. I would expect to see him on the field a little here and there in mop-up duty.

Prediction: Backup quarterback

2022 Season Countdown: #97 Jayden Denegal

Name: Jayden Denegal
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 215 lbs.
High school: Apple Valley (CA) Apple Valley
Position: Quarterback
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #16
Last year: Denegal was a senior in high school. He completed 121/175 passes (69.1%) for 1,545 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions; he also ran 47 times for 281 yards and 8 touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 61

Michigan seemed to have a tough time gaining footing with quarterbacks in the class of 2022. Perhaps it was because it was on the heels of landing J.J. McCarthy, a star of the 2021 class. Perhaps it was due to Michigan’s poor play on the field in 2020. Regardless, Michigan threw out some offers to guys they really seemed to like and didn’t get much mutual interest. Then at the beginning of summer, they extended an offer to Denegal, which he accepted immediately.

Denegal ended up as a 3-star, the #29 quarterback, and #455 overall in the 247 Composite. Considered by many to be the superior quarterback of the two Michigan landed in 2022, accounts from the spring had Alex Orji as the better thrower – which is saying something, because some people think Orji will end up playing a different position by the time his college career is over. Denegal did not see any action in the spring game, while Orji showed some nice running skills and threw the ball poorly. With that knowledge, I’m expecting Denegal to take a redshirt in 2022 behind Cade McNamara, McCarthy, Davis Warren, and Alan Bowman, if not Orji and others.

Prediction: Redshirt