It’s a bit telling that when redshirt sophomore middle linebacker Obi Ezeh was asked about the Michigan football team’s quarterback situation today, the first players he mentioned were “No. 3” and “Carlos.”
- BEN SIMON/Daily
- Junior running back Carlos Brown has seen snaps at quarterback during Michigan’s fall practices.
“No. 3” is dual-threat freshman Justin Feagin, and “Carlos” is junior Carlos Brown, listed on the roster and self-described as a running back.
Neither are redshirt freshman Steven Threet or redshirt sophomore Nick Sheridan, the players Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez has repeatedly said lead the quarterback competition since the spring.
It seems the competition between the Georgia Tech transfer (Threet), the walk-on who had no scholarship offers coming out of high school (Sheridan), the true freshman who most schools recruited as a defensive back (Feagin) and the running back who played quarterback in high school (Brown) gets more intriguing everyday.
Ezeh said Feagin and Brown are more apt to run. But when Threet or Sheridan is playing, he must be ready for anything.
Rodriguez said he will play as many quarterbacks as he has that he “can win with.” A player offering a different skill set than another will not be a factor. He could use different packages depending on the quarterback, though.
Rodriguez said Threet and Sheridan have had about the same number of reps with the first-team offense.
Brown, who took a snap at quarterback Monday when practice was open to the media, said he wasn’t sure whether his role at quarterback would just be used periodically for deception.
“I don’t do it a lot,” said Brown, who was quick no note he’s a running back. “I just flash back there. And I feel comfortable doing it when I’m back there. But it’s OK. It’s not that hard, I don’t think.”
Junior wide receiver Greg Mathews said Sheridan has more of an over-the-top release than Threet, who has more of a side-arm throw. But Mathews, like Rodriguez and Ezeh, said the two are mostly similar.
Keeping pace: The Wolverines are in their sixth day of fall practice, and their second day in pads.
“We’re probably right on track,” said Rodriguez, who noted his teams usually can’t keep pace with the initial installation schedule because the coaching staff intentionally makes it overly ambitious.
In the first half of a two-a-day, the Michigan players wore shorts this morning and will wear pads in the afternoon.
Rodriguez was much more optimistic than Wednesday, when he “didn’t think we progressed a whole lot.”
Speedy secondary: Senior strong safety Harrison said the team had a few races during the summer, and he took first ahead of fifth-year senior cornerback Morgan Trent.
“He didn’t really have too much to say,” said Harrison, who noted the competition was all in good fun.