A new Michigan football season is on the horizon and with it comes the same No. 1 question as every offseason.
After a year of turmoil at the position in Ann Arbor that saw the Wolverines go from former walk-on Davis Warren, to an unproven-passer in Alex Orji, to the oft-injured Jack Tuttle (he medically retired just days after his final career start at Illinois) and back to Warren.
This time around, there are again three primary options at play heading into 2025. However, all three of them are either more naturally gifted than the QBs last year, more proven, or some combination of both.
The options at the disposal of new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey (who came from North Carolina) are Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene, early-enrollee freshman Bryce Underwood - the nation's No. 1 overall recruit from 20 minutes east in Belleville - or sophomore Jadyn Davis.
The fourth quarterback in the room is Warren, but he will not figure into the spring portion of the competition as he recovers from a torn ACL suffered in U-M's 19-13 ReliaQuest bowl victory over Alabama.
"For us this spring, it's how do we put these three quarterbacks in position," Lindsey told team color commentator Jon Jansen earlier this week on Michigan's in-house podcast, "In the Trenches."
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"We'll just rotate them through. I want them all to get equal reps with the older receivers or the next group down and put them in (certain game) situations. It's pretty simple then. It's a production business.
"Whatever you produce, that's who you are. Whatever you put on film is who you are."
There's little doubt the passing game needed a revamp. The Wolverines' passing game was No. 131 (out of 133 teams in the nation) as no team had fewer plays of 40 yards or more than Michigan did last year, which included not a single pass of at least 40 yards (the longest all season was just 36 yards).
Head coach Sherrone Moore explained this offseason that he likes Lindsey's ability to have a balanced attack.
With the Tar Heels in 2023, Lindsey's offense finished No. 7 in the nation (491.2 yards per game) and was in the top-20 in both passing and rushing. He's showed he can feature a running back like Omarion Hampton (he finished as an All-American last year, led the ACC in rushing and is expected to be a Day 1 or Day 2 pick in this year's NFL draft) and said part of the reason he thought U-M was the right fit is because he and Moore have such similar offensive philosophies.
"If you're going to win the whole thing, and that's been proven here before, I think the recipe is the same," Lindsey said. "We have to be able to run the football when we want to do it. You play on the road, you play late in the season, weather's different. That's important. We got to be physical, and we have to have that mindset.
"At the same time, I want to create explosive plays, and to do that, you got to be able to throw it down the field. ... (but) you run the football to set up throwing it down the field. Ten years ago, I would've told you probably the opposite. I just think my experience now, that's what I believe in."
He found that's what helped both times he was developing NFL quarterbacks, like Drake Maye in Chapel Hill and before that, Jarrett Stidham at Auburn. As for who Lindsey will be working with in Ann Arbor this fall, let's start with Keene, who U-M fans got a first-hand look at last August.
He had Fresno State in a one possession game in the fourth quarter, but did throw a pair of picks, including a pick-six by Will Johnson, which made the game a 30-10 final. He's completed 67.8% of his passes in four years as a starter - two at Central Florida, two at Fresno State - thrown for 8,245 yards and 65 touchdowns compared to 28 interceptions.
"We're gonna coach them all the same," Lindsey said, implying there's no head start for the graduate student. "Expectations are the same. And the way we go about it, you think about those three guys, they're all a little different from where they are in their career, but they're all similar in that they want to be really good, and they want to push each other and they want to compete."
Technically, Jadyn Davis is second in terms of experience, but not by much and he is viewed as the likely third option. Davis has taken one snap in his career, a handoff to Tavierre Dunlap for a 20-yard touchdown against Northwestern in U-M's 2024 home finale, but last year, when the Wolverines were desperate to find anybody to just function as a passer, Davis never threatened to take the field.
Last, but certainly not least, is Underwood. He's the prized recruit, the most highly-regraded prospect to ever step foot on campus in Ann Arbor and enrolled early ahead of U-M's bowl game to start getting reps with the team.
While Lindsey has coordinated some explosive offenses, like his squad from 2015 at Southern Miss, where they had two separate 1,000 yard rushers as well as a 4,000 yard passer in what he still calls "probably the most explosive offense I've ever been a part of," this might be as excited as he's ever been to get into a new room and get to work with some new toys.
"Bryce, getting to know him has been unbelievable," Lindsey began. "The guy is as humble and driven as I've seen. People from the outside may not see that or know that because of the hype that goes with it. Jadyn Davis was a five-star recruit, as well. I think the people from outside don't see them every day in the film room, grinding on their own, in meetings, taking notes.
"You want a room full of guys that are eager. Davis Warren is the same way. He's coming off an injury, but he's the same way. Those guys want to be perfect, and I think that's what's exciting."
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.