Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara has entered the transfer portal. The class of 2019 signee won the starting job from Joe Milton in 2020 and held it through 2021, leading the Wolverines to a 12-1 record, a Big Ten championship, and the College Football Playoff.
Unfortunately for McNamara, his 2022 season started by losing his starting job to J.J. McCarthy in week two. As a backup in week three, he hurt his knee, which was followed up by knee surgery and ultimately an entry into the portal.
McNamara completed 267/431 passes (63.1%) during his career at Michigan for 3,181 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. He ranks #14 all-time at Michigan in passing yardage despite starting for just over one season.
I gave McNamara a TTB Rating of 65 and assumed he would probably transfer after being stuck behind Dylan McCaffrey and/or Joe Milton. Obviously, I was wrong about the circumstances - and he deserved a higher TTB Rating - but it turns out he is transferring after being knocked down the depth chart, just not in favor of McCaffrey or Milton. The 2021 season was a pretty magical year and McNamara had some great performances, including against Rutgers in 2020, Penn State in 2021, and even Michigan State in 2021, despite the latter being a loss.
It's hard to blame McNamara for looking for a new opportunity. He had the job and lost it, and his replacement is going to be around for another year or two. McNamara has two seasons of eligibility remaining, and with his resume, he could potentially go elsewhere and earn a starting job for the next two years. He could even end up still playing in the Big Ten; Iowa (Spencer Petras) and Purdue (Aidan O'Connell) both have quarterbacks graduating after this season.
Michigan is now down to McCarthy, walk-on Davis Warren, and redshirt freshmen Alex Orji and Jayden Denegal. The Wolverines appear not to be interested in taking a quarterback in the class of 2023. Unless they go after a player in the transfer portal, the depth will be rather thin in 2023 and, in my opinion, not very talented outside of McCarthy and Warren. However, some Michigan people seem to believe that it opens the door for an early contribution from Charlotte (NC) Providence Day quarterback Jadyn Davis, who is thought to be a Michigan lean.
Two posts in one day. You go Thunder!
ReplyDeleteI have some more time on my hands now that football season is over!
DeleteI hope he finds a home and lights it up. He seems a fine young man.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck, and much gratitude to the young man who led the end of our ohio drought AND delivered a B1G title
ReplyDeleteStill, I expected this after the season, to be as little a distraction as possible. But then, the writing has been on the wall
You think B1G Thunder? I see Pac12, and a shorter trip home
I don't know what jobs will be open in the Pac-12, but I can certainly see him ending up out there.
DeleteThe best offense in the country will need a new QB starter in 2023. The Volunteers have some guys returning including a top backup, but Cade might have reason to think he'd have a leg up on the competition.
ReplyDeleteDude, come on, he's going to do better than Iowa or Purdue. You're still underestimating him.
ReplyDeleteIf you were to guess, where do you think he might land?
DeleteI don't think I am. A lot of the schools with explosive offenses want a guy with either a big arm or the ability to run. Schools like Ole Miss, Tennessee, etc. won't want a game manager at quarterback. As great as it is that he won games, he's still limited athletically.
DeleteYeah, you're still underestimating him.
DeleteDid you know Alabama wanted him after he decommitted from Notre Dame? But he chose Michigan.
J JMcCarthy has been called a game manager all year.
DeleteThere's only maybe 5 big name schools where the QB is expected to run that I couldn't see him going.
DeleteI have no clue where Cade will end up. It's a bit like trying to guess where a 5-star recruit will end up. You can guess distance to home will be a factor but a lot of times it's not. Academics are probably not a big factor while immediate playing time is probably a huge factor. But who knows - maybe he will go play for Nevada or Montana State or something.
DeleteI will just say that it's worth considering that the general consensus on our outgoing transfers has often been very wrong. Michigan fans were very high on McCaffrey and considered him a high level talent even though he never started here. Yet he ended up at a terrible program to help his Dad and continued to struggle.
Michigan fans were very high on Peters because of his 2017 "freshman" season hopes even though he steadily descended down the depth chart after Patterson arrived. He ended up having a very mediocre career at a very mediocre Illinois program (also close to home).
Michigan fans were very low on Joe Milton and some thought he should go to a low level program near his home in Florida but instead he went to a near-elite program in Tennessee and is starting games there (albeit with very mixed results including losing his job last year to Hendon Hooker).
We can all speculate but we'll probably be wrong. Here's my probably-wrong speculation: Cade is a smart dude and will look for a place that is very different than Michigan and a starting role is all but assured. I don't think he'll look for a prestige program nor do I think he will look to play the game-manager role again - been there done that. I think he'll look to play in a higher volume system where he can put up stats to change perceptions about him. Maybe he'll go play for Mike Leach or some other Air Raid outfit. Scouts already know he can win games at an elite program -- what they don't know is if he can put up big numbers with consistency.
I forgot to mention Speight who went about as far from his home in possible to go play for Chip Kelly. He started games but was less effective than at Michigan. I think I recall people worrying he would transfer to a Big Ten team at one point.
Delete@ Anonymous
DeleteI tend not to get into long arguments about predicting the future. Sometimes I'll argue all day about the past, but not the future. There's really no point.
I don't think McNamara will end up at an elite program. You think he will. Now we'll just have to see who's right or wrong.
There are reports coming out today that McNamara is headed to Iowa.
DeleteJoby here. Wishing Cade the best. He was a phenomenal leader here.
ReplyDeleteAs far as landing spots for him: I know the school isn’t a well-known name, but how about Oregon State? They were 9-3, have a sound defense and solid running game, at least on paper (and from what I could see of the Oregon Civil War game). And Corvallis is an 8-hour drive from Reno.
Would Cade be an upgrade over incumbent Chance Nolan? In 2021 (when both were starters), Nolan was a better QB than Cade with less talent around him. He had an awful game against USC and he's currently injured so OSU's going with a non-descript backup for now but Nolan should return in 2023. Seems to me like it would be a competition at the very least.
DeleteI really wonder what Cade is thinking going to Iowa. It's very much a poor man's Michigan in terms of philosophy and talent. Does he really just want to go out and get revenge on Harbaugh? Seems doubtful to me but who knows.
ReplyDeleteGiven their lack of skill position talent and questionable OC I find this one to be pretty head-scratching.