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Wednesday, September 1, 2021

2021 Season Countdown: #2 Cade McNamara

 

Cade McNamara

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Name: Cade McNamara
Height:
6'1"
Weight:
212 lbs.
High school:
Reno (NV) Damonte Ranch
Position:
Quarterback
Class:
Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number:
#12
Last year:
I ranked McNamara #65 and said he would be a backup quarterback (LINK). He completed 43/71 passes for 425 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions; he also ran for 1 touchdown.
TTB Rating:
65

My, what a ride it's been in just a couple seasons for Cade McNamara. Thought by many to be a down-the-road option at quarterback for a team that had Shea Patterson, Dylan McCaffrey, and Joe Milton when he committed, that road got a lot shorter in a hurry. Patterson graduated and moved on, McCaffrey transferred to Northern Colorado, and suddenly McNamara was the primary backup to newly anointed starter Joe Milton in 2020. That situation evolved quickly, as well, with Milton getting injured/playing poorly mid-season, thrusting McNamara into the limelight. McNamara played late against Wisconsin, took over early against Rutgers, started against Penn State, and . . . promptly got hurt.

Milton looked the part of a stud quarterback, but he didn't play like it with 4 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Meanwhile, McNamara looks like an average dude but didn't turn over the ball. He commanded the offense better than Milton did in more extended playing time, and McNamara's decision-making was quicker. One of the main things I look for when evaluating quarterbacks is how quickly they make decisions at the line of scrimmage and progress through their reads. That was an area where Milton struggled, but McNamara does well in that phase, despite his lack of elite physical talents.

This off-season McNamara has had to fend off 5-star freshman J.J. McCarthy, who reportedly struggled a little bit in the spring but has turned it on during fall camp. The coaching staff has been steadfast that McNamara is the guy, even though McCarthy will play. Michigan also has former Texas Tech starter Alan Bowman and redshirt freshman Dan Villari on the roster. It will be interesting to see whether McNamara entrenches himself as the starter or if McCarthy pops up if McNamara struggles. It would be great if Michigan can put the brakes on the revolving door at quarterback and keep players at the position for a few years. I'm expecting McNamara to have an efficient 2021 season. Michigan should be able to run the ball to keep pressure off of him, and he has some talented targets at wideout and tight end.

Prediction: Starting quarterback; 2,800 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, 6 interceptions

19 comments:

  1. We need him to be like the frustratingly efficient QBs who occasionally pop up at NW, Purdue, etc

    My concern is how low his elbow is when throwing the ball, just begging for a ball to be batted down...

    Throw this one one the "hope" pile too

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    Replies
    1. @JE Thoughts on Milton winning the job at Tenn?

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    2. Happy for him

      But I'd wait til 25 Sep before celebrating too much

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    3. LANK
      milton will be the same there as here, won't he?

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    4. In some ways yes - he beat out the competition, is physically impressive, demonstrates high character, well liked and respected, facing an uphill battle to win the conference with a powerhouse in the way. That's all the same.

      In some ways no - hopefully his season isn't derailed by an injury and he is put in a position to succeed. We heard that wasn't true at Michigan.

      Milton was always a raw prospect that needed time. I'm not at all surprised to see him starting in the SEC. But he enters his senior year with plenty to prove about his accuracy and consistency.

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    5. Caveat Game1 and "it's only Bowling Green," but 7 plays for 8yds in the 2Q? As much as 8sec in the pocket, only to take a sack or miss a wide open guy?

      Same story as before. A lot to clean up before hitting the SEC schedule

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    6. Tennessee Joe looks a lot like Michigan Joe in game 1.

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    7. I'd say worse. Still struggles seeing anything between the hashes, and beyond 5yds ...

      Prior to the garbage time TD, he had a stretch of 1-11; after the 1Q, he was 2-10, 5yds

      Final stats against a putrid BG D:
      11-23, 47%, 140yds, 6.1YPA, 1 YD, and 3sacks (despite all day in the pocket)

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  2. Please let the offensive line provide reasonable protection ...

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  3. I am a Cade skeptic based on last year but good for him for decisively winning the starting job in camp. I hope he is as good as he looked against Rutger.

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    Replies
    1. I have always preferred accuracy and decision-making over physical attributes. Guys who are big with rocket arms tend to get overrated. Remains to be seen if Cade has those traits - we'd all love to have Drew Brees - but he should improve from what we saw last year.

      I wouldn't rank him this high personally, just not proven enough and the PSU game was awful, but he's QB1 so it's hard to argue too hard.

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    2. Brandon Peters is the parallel I keep going back to. I hope Cade breaks off and follows a different path. Winning the starting job out of camp as a junior is a great first step to do just that.

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  4. Replies
    1. In one start, the same number Joe Milton had after his first.

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    2. That's true but it wasn't after 1 start.

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    3. I don't know what you mean. Milton always had more ints that TDs at Michigan.

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  5. Based on the coaches comments recently about teaching Cade "to be steady" and "doesn't have to win the the game for us", I've come to one of two conclusions about how they are approaching Cade:
    1. They really believe they have playmakers at skill positions so they want him to be a point guard and nothing more
    2. They don't have faith in some of his abilities to create big plays

    It could be both. I don't really mind #1, because I believe Cade's strength is to get the ball out quickly and distribute. But what worries me is that they may be coaching JJ the same way and his development as a playmaker will suffer, his natural talents go to waste.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They're not mutually exclusive, so I wouldn't be too worried about this. If our QB is able to get the ball out quickly and pass it to all his receivers effectively that will open up downfield throws. If he's just focusing on deep stuff (higher risk/reward), then that's it's own kind of indictment/limitation.

      Maybe there's some kind of optimal balance between "taking shots" and "distributing" but I think those things are going to be about reading and reacting to what the defense is doing as much as play-calling emphasis.

      4 verts is fun but the teams running this are also throwing a lot of screens

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