As the youngest of three boys, Michigan offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell has an idea about how a pecking order should be decided. There was no talk of drawing straws in his family because it always went oldest to youngest.
So that’s exactly how Campbell ordered his quarterbacks at the start of the Michigan football team’s spring practices on Monday.
“The pecking order going into the spring will be ‘Who’s the oldest?’ And then if they’re in the same grade, we’ll go alphabetical order by last name who gets the next rep,” Campbell said March 15. “So that’s how we’ll handle it on day one, and then we’ll reevaluate on day two.”
However day one may have gone, and whether or not it changed the pecking order, it didn’t change the fact that the Wolverines are in the midst of a crucial quarterback competition. When two-year starter J.J. McCarthy declared for the NFL draft, he left a massive void in Michigan’s offense — one that each of the five quarterbacks still in the room are vying to fill.
The oldest, who presumably took that first rep, is graduate quarterback Jack Tuttle. Coined “Uncle Jack,” Tuttle was granted a seventh year of eligibility after his medical redshirt was approved, and he provides a veteran perspective for the group. Though he’s working through an injury as practices begin, he showed his abilities coming into a few games last season and his contributions didn’t go unnoticed.
Three other quarterbacks also saw some snaps last season and hope to return in a greater capacity. Junior Alex Orji carved out a role for himself as a rushing threat, entering crucial games against Ohio State, Alabama and Washington to carry out designed runs.
“Alex Orji, obviously a freak athlete,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said Thursday. “Really the ability for him to be a game changer with the ball in his hands, running the football. He really has a different element from the other guys, and we’ve seen it in the past. But it’s not like he can’t throw. He can and he’s thrown pretty well as we’ve gone through the springtime.”
Moore also emphasized the passing abilities of senior Davis Warren and junior Jayden Denegal. Both entered as backups in various blowout games at the beginning of last season and provide a contrasting skill set to Orji’s run-focused athleticism.
While all four returners may have seen limited in-game action, they have plenty of experience in the Wolverines’ system. The one new face is freshman Jadyn Davis, a highly touted prospect. Moore described him as a quarterback who “can do a little bit of everything” and someone Michigan is excited about. Davis may not be the starter in his first year, but so far it seems he’s holding his own among the veterans in the quarterback competition.
“They’ve all been competing,” Moore said. “It’s been super fun to watch them all do it. We’ll see what happens, but I love where they’re at right now, love their mentality, love their competitive nature, love how they’re all getting after it. They’re all complimenting each other and they’re competing at a high level.”
Moore declined to say if he would consider a two quarterback system, not willing to rule out anything this early into practice. With the differing skill sets and unknowns surrounding each contender, anything could happen — and the Wolverines won’t put a timeline on making a decision.
Even though the quarterbacks may have started by taking reps from oldest to youngest, the starting job remains up for grabs. It’ll be up to each competitor to prove that they deserve to be first in the pecking order.