Last week I showed you all the single-game passing yardage leaders (LINK). This week we move on to the season passing yardage leaders.
Hit the jump for the list.
- 3,331 - John Navarre (2003)
- 3,061 - Shea Patterson (2019)
- 3,017 - Jake Rudock (2015)
- 2,960 - Devin Gardner (2013)
- 2,905 - John Navarre (2002)
- 2,743 - Chad Henne (2004)
- 2,739 - Jake Rudock (2015)
- 2,729 - Jim Harbaugh (1986)
- 2,636 - Tom Brady (1998)
- 2,600 - Shea Patterson (2018)
- 2,586 - Tom Brady (1999)
- 2,576 - Cade McNamara (2021)
- 2,570 - Denard Robinson (2010)
- 2,538 - Wilton Speight (2016)
- 2,526 - Chad Henne (2005)
- 2,518 - Todd Collins (1994)
- 2,509 - Todd Collins (1993)
- 2,508 - Chad Henne (2005)
- 2,435 - John Navarre (2001)
- 2,293 - Brian Griese (1997)
- 2,173 - Denard Robinson (2011)
- 2,146 - Drew Henson (2000)
- 2,085 - Elvis Grbac (2001)
- 2,050 - Tate Forcier (2009)
- 2,025 - Scott Dreisbach (1996)
- 1,976 - Jim Harbaugh (1985)
- 1,938 - Chad Henne (2007)
- 1,911 - Elvis Grbac (1990)
It's pretty impressive that John Navarre's school record is still standing since 2003, even after the rule changes that have favored passing offenses. Rich Rodriguez's super-speed spread came and went, and Michigan has had seasons where they need to throw the ball all over the place to try to catch up, and the record still belongs to Navarre.
This was originally posted on April 26, 2019.
Yeah, Navarre having 2 of the top 5 still is astounding. Not only in terms of how the game has evolved but the quality of QBs Michigan had at times. With names like Brady, Henne, Robinson, Harbaugh, Griese, Grbac it seems odd that half the top 10 is Navarre, Patterson, and Rudock.
ReplyDelete"Rental" Rudock made such an impression on Thunder he got to make the list twice.
It's a bad thing that our season passing record is twenty years old, and from an old school ground & pound coach
ReplyDeleteBut as pointed out previously, it's even more impressive that we continue to recruit at such a high level
Chris Perry had quite a good year in 2003, including over 300 yards of receiving himself, which is in addition to 1674 rushing yards. That was the year Braylon Edwards had 1138 yards receiving, and Jason Avant another 772.
ReplyDeleteReal solid tight ends also with both Benny Joppru and Andy Mignery.
DeleteNavarre got a bad rap for a sophomore season where he was not ready, but had to play anyway. The loss at Iowa with the crowned field overthrow hurt him with overreactive fans. He was a better Qb than he ever got credit for around here.
On the other hand, Lloyd had him surrounded with really good receivers, backs with some solid protection. A defense that gave him lots of short fields didn't hurt either.
Absolutely right about Navarre playing before he was ready. I think that changed the narrative around his entire career. Even in his 3rd year on campus (2001) he was still not really ready and made a huge improvement from there to his 4th and 5th years. Year 3 and 5 stats below.
Delete116 passer rating, 6.3 YPA, 2200 yards and 17 TDs to 12 INTs.
133 passer rating, 7.3 YPAC, 3300 yards and 24 TDs to 10 INTs.
Contrast with Tom Brady a couple years earlier - who had thrown a grand total of 20 passes before his 4th year.
That was 20 years ago but you can see similar improvements and leaps, even more dramatic ones, in players like Jake Rudock and Joe Burrow between years 3 and 5.
I think the lessons to be learned there is that QBs can still improve dramatically from year 3 and we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss players who struggle when thrown to the wolves before they are ready. I know I saw tremendous improvement in McNamara from year 2 to year 3 and now expectations are even higher for year 4.
about QBs who play early in their careers, before they are ready compared to vs guys who wait