Wilton Speight might have a broken collarbone

Michigan starting quarterback Wilton Speight reportedly has a broken collarbone (LINK), which I had been hearing since Sunday morning. Coincidentally – or not – Speight also suffered a collarbone injury in high school, an occurrence that allowed him to petition for an extra year of high school eligibility.

That means redshirt junior John O’Korn should slide into the starting job this week when Michigan faces Indiana. Speight has been the #2 quarterback all season, and many people suggested he was the best quarterback on the roster in 2015, when Jake Rudock had a great second half of the year and became an NFL draft pick. Even through the spring, when Speight was taking first-team reps, lots of “insiders” – including the mods at Rivals – insisted O’Korn would be the starter. I initially believed O’Korn would succeed Rudock, but after watching them play this spring, I reached the conclusion that Speight would probably be The Guy.

Hit the jump for more on the quarterback situation.

O’Korn is, of course, the transfer from Houston who had 1.5 seasons as a starter before sitting out 2015. Here are his stats so far in college:

2013 (Houston): 259/446, 58.1%, 3117 yards, 28 TDs, 10 INTs, 133.02 PER
2014 (Houston): 90/173, 52%, 951 yards, 6 TDs, 8 INTs, 100.38 PER
2015 (Michigan): Redshirted
2016 (Michigan): 13/18, 72.2%, 114 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 162.09 PER

Those numbers this year are pretty good, but they have mostly come in mop-up time against teams who have given up or are playing backups. Naturally, he was also throwing to Michigan 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-stringers. It’s not a great gauge of how he’ll do as a starter, but he’s certainly been more effective than the other option, Shane Morris, has been over his career.

Michigan hasn’t had a ton of quarterback injuries over the years, but on paper, this is perhaps the best QB situation the Wolverines have had in a long time. When Denard Robinson got hurt in 2012, replacement Devin Gardner filled in admirably but spent the first several weeks of the year playing wide receiver. He was a bit of an unknown at that point. Previously, Chad Henne suffered from a variety of injuries in 2007 and was replaced by true freshman Ryan Mallett, who did some good things but struggled overall. Henne himself was an injury replacement for Matt Gutierrez on the eve of the 2004 season; true freshman Henne played so well that Gutierrez – who would eventually spend a few years in the NFL – transferred to Idaho State.

Obviously, there have been more injuries to Michigan quarterbacks, but those were all unproven players taking over for established starters. In the case of Speight and O’Korn, backup O’Korn has actually thrown 355 more passes in his college career. The majority of those came in 2013, but that experience is significant.

From what I’ve seen so far of O’Korn in practice, the spring game, and this season, I think he is well suited to keep the offense going in the positive direction it was headed before the Iowa game. He has been rumored to be a bit more of a gunslinger who will push the ball down the field or into tight spaces, but I have also seen a guy who is willing to tuck the ball and run a little sooner than Speight. With a more limited number of reps, I’m not sure if O’Korn goes through his reads quite as quickly as Speight, so he’ll scramble if he sees the first two options are covered. We probably won’t see O’Korn sit in the pocket quite as long as Speight. I would assume we will see a few more rushing attempts and a few more rushing yards than what we have been getting from the quarterback position. I also think O’Korn possesses a stronger arm and can hit some of those deep and intermediate passes with more regularity. Speight was off on some deep throws early in the season, played well for a stretch, and then took a step back against Iowa. The key for O’Korn will be getting chemistry and timing going with Amara Darboh, Jehu Chesson, and/or his other receivers.

Overall, this is obviously a negative for Michigan. It takes away an experienced starter and thins the depth chart. I regret to say that I have no faith in Shane Morris as a full-time quarterback, so it’s a must for O’Korn to remain healthy through at least the next two games. But with O’Korn ready to step forward, this has to be one of the best quarterback situations in the country. Not many teams can claim that they have two proven starters on their rosters. There are bound to be some bumps in the road, but let’s hope that this train gets back on track.

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