Ranking Michigan’s Quarterbacks

Tag: Tate Forcier

9Mar 2023
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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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25Mar 2021
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Review of 2009 Recruiting: Quarterback

Tate Forcier (#5) and Denard Robinson (#16, image via Maize and Blue Nation)

The 2009 recruiting class was Rich Rodriguez’s first full recruiting class in Ann Arbor, and he did his best to bring in the type of running quarterback that had been successful for him at previous stops like West Virginia (Pat White) and Clemson (Woody Dantzler). Rodriguez did about as well as expected, landing two starting-caliber quarterbacks.

THE ROSTER
David Cone, RS Jr.
Nick Sheridan, RS Jr. (walk-on)

THE RECRUITS
Tate Forcier
Ratings: 247 Composite 4-star, #4 dual-threat QB, #120 overall
High school: San Diego (CA) Scripps Ranch
College: Michigan San Jose State
Other notable offers: Florida, Oregon, Penn State, Stanford
Scoop: Forcier was an early enrollee in January 2009, the first true quarterback prospect to arrive on campus since Rich Rodriguez’s arrival.  He seized the starting job as a freshman and started all 12 games.  His most memorable game in a 5-7 season was against Notre Dame, in which he had a couple clutch touchdowns to finish off the Irish.  He finished the season 165-for-281 for 2,050 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions; he also gained 240 yards and had 3 touchdowns on the ground. However, Forcier fell out of favor with the coaches in the off-season and was demoted for his sophomore year in 2010 in favor of Denard Robinson. He played in 8 games and replaced an injured Robinson in the Illinois game, leading the team to a 67-65 victory in triple-overtime. Forcier finished his sophomore season 54-for-84 for 597 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions; he also rushed 22 times for 51 yards and 1 touchdown. He transferred to San Jose State University and sat out the 2011 season due to NCAA transfer rules, but left the school in January 2012 for academic reasons. He signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL in spring 2012 but was cut from the team a month later.

Denard Robinson
Ratings: 247 Composite 4-star, #9 ATH, #121 overall
High school: Deerfield Beach (FL) Deerfield Beach
College: Michigan
Other notable offers: Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State
Scoop: Robinson was recruited by many schools as an “athlete” or defensive back, and Michigan was one of only a couple schools offering him a chance to play quarterback. He was a late addition to the 2009 class, committing on National Signing Day in February. After being a backup/gadget player as a freshman, he went on to start for most of the next three seasons, a run ended by an elbow injury halfway through his senior year. Overall, he completed 57.2% of his passes for 6,250 yards, 49 touchdowns, and 39 interceptions. His biggest impact came in the running game, where the lightning-fast Robinson ran for 4,495 yards on 6.2 yards/carry and scored 42 touchdowns. He was an All-American in 2010, a two-time First Team All-Big Ten selection, and finished #6 in the Heisman voting in 2010. He was picked in the 5th round (#135 overall) by the Jacksonville Jaguars as a running back and played for the Jags from 2013-2016, totaling 1,058 rushing yards and 5 total touchdowns.

Hit the jump for a look at the rest of Michigan’s quarterback recruiting efforts in 2009.

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21Jan 2012
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Ex-Wolverine Updates: The Class of 2009

Shavodrick Beaver (pictured here in his days at Tulsa) is now at Midwestern State, which is a real place.

Former Michigan quarterback commit Shavodrick Beaver sat out the 2011 season after transferring from Tulsa to Midwestern State, which is in Beaver’s hometown of Wichita Falls, Texas.  Midwestern State’s starting quarterback, Brandon Kelsey, had 1,951 yards passing and 967 yards rushing.  Beaver will be a redshirt junior at MSU in fall 2012.

Former Michigan safety Vladimir Emilien sat out the 2011 after transferring from Michigan to Toledo.  He does not appear on the Rockets’ roster, but has confirmed that he’s at Toledo and will be a redshirt junior in fall 2012.
Former Michigan kicker commit Anthony Fera was 14/17 on field goals for Penn State this season with a long of 46 yards.  He also punted 64 times, averaging 42 yards, and handled the kickoff duties.
Former Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier transferred to San Jose State this past season and seemed to be in line for the starting quarterback job next fall.  However, he left SJSU in recent weeks due to “personal and financial reasons” and his career might be over.
Former Michigan defensive tackle commit Pearlie Graves left Texas Tech in late September.  He was reportedly transferring, but has not reappeared elsewhere, as far as I know.
Former Michigan running back and cornerback Teric Jones left the program last offseason due to a knee injury.  He remains a student at the University of Michigan.
Former Michigan defensive tackle commit DeQuinta Jones finished his junior year at Arkansas.  He played in all 13 games, making 19 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 sack.
Former Michigan defensive end Anthony Lalota transferred to Rutgers, but has since quit football altogether.  He practiced at tight end with the Scarlet Knights.
Former Michigan wide receiver commit Bryce McNeal caught 1 pass for 8 yards at Clemson in 2011 before transferring.  He is now at UConn and will be eligible in fall 2012 because he already had his bachelor’s degree.
Former Michigan quarterback commit Kevin Newsome left Penn State after being buried on the depth chart behind Matt McGloin and Rob Bolden.  He has not yet announced a transfer destination.
Former Michigan wide receiver commit Dewayne Peace is now at Houston after leaving Arizona because of legal troubles.  He spent 2010 at Blinn Community College (made famous by Cam Newton).  Peace started one game for the Cougars in 2011 and played in 11 total games, making 13 catches for 105 yards (8.1 yards per catch) and 0 touchdowns.
Former Michigan wide receiver Je’Ron Stokes left Michigan this past season and transferred to Bowling Green State University, where his brother Malik will be a redshirt freshman quarterback in 2012.  Je’Ron will be a redshirt junior and eligible to play for the Falcons this coming season.
Former Michigan cornerback Justin Turner left Michigan in 2010 and transferred to Scottsdale (AZ) Community College to play football in 2011.  He played 11 games there and made 47 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 3 interceptions, 17 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries.  Here are his highlights from Scottsdale Community College.  He is committed to play for Hawaii in 2012, where he will be a redshirt junior.
Former Michigan cornerback signee Adrian Witty played in 12 games for Cincinnati in 2011 as a backup cornerback and special teamer.  He made 15 tackles, broke up 1 pass, and forced 1 fumble.  He will be a redshirt sophomore this coming fall.
8Aug 2011
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Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia Update

The Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia is really interesting to me. I’m not sure why that is because ex-wolverines don’t impact Michigan Football whatsoever, and in many cases, the players have spurned Michigan in one way or the other. On the other hand, I find the case study aspect interesting, and I like to know whether or not the players would have made an impact at Michigan if they had stayed.
Here’s an update on a few players. For a complete ex-wolverine list, go here. As always, please email/comment with any info/updates.
Justin Turner

Turner reportedly enrolled at Notre Dame College of Ohio after leaving West Virginia during the 2010 season, which Justin was scheduled to sit out due to transfer rules. But an assistant coach at the junior college said enrollment never happened: “we thought for sure he was going to enroll, but then he dropped off the map.” The coach also heard that Turner may attend “a college in California” but wasn’t sure about the credibility of what he had heard.

Demar Dorsey

After being denied admission to Michigan, Dorsey enrolled in Grand Rapids Community College. Coach Andrews, the school’s defensive coordinator, said that Dorsey chose GRCC because he knew several of the players on the team who are from Florida and, as a child, Demar even played little league football with a couple of his GRCC teammates. Despite a rocky start, Coach Andrews said that Dorsey has attended all of the team’s voluntary workouts this summer and is slotted to see action as a defensive back and kick returner this fall, but he doesn’t expect Dorsey to see any action on the offensive side of the ball.
Also of note, Coach Andrews recently spoke with Chris Singletary, who indicated that Michigan would still be interested in Dorsey if he continues to demonstrate positive behavior and invest in academics. For reasons unknown to Coach Andrews, Oregon is Dorsey’s current “leader” although Dorsey hasn’t had any recent contact with the University. “Maybe it’s because they were just in National Championship game; maybe it’s because he likes their uniforms,” Coach Andrews speculated half-jokingly.

Conelius Jones

After failing to academically qualify at Michigan, Cornelius enrolled at Marshall University, a former member of the MAC and a current member of Conference USA. A Marshall blog posted an article that says Jones had more academic problems at the University, but the writer then added an emboldened “Edit” bit at the end of the page that says Conelius just wanted to be closer to home. Either way, it doesn’t look like Jones will be continuing with his football career.

Justin Boren

Perhaps my least liked ex-wolverine, Boren signed on to play for the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent immediately following the NFL lockout.
Tate Forcier

Although most people seem to be disinterested with the Forcier saga, I find it fascinating for a couple reasons. Firstly, had he kept his academic house in order, I would have enjoyed seeing the role he might have played in the Borges offense. Secondly — the first half of 2010.
So if you don’t already know the story, Forcier reportedly committed to play for Miami (FL) but backed out because the school was too far from home. He then showed interest in Hawaii–which is a similar distance away from his San Diego home–but was denied enrollment due to issues with his Michigan transcript. Here’s to hoping he lands on his feet.