In case you have not heard by now, Jim Harbaugh has extended the Michigan quarterback battle into the 2022 regular season as Cade McNamara got the start during the Wolverines’ 51-7 win over Colorado State on Saturday and J.J. McCarthy will start in Week 2 against Hawaii.
Most seem to believe that McNamara did not help his case against Colorado State as he completed just 50% of his passes for well under 20o yards passing, while McCarthy played extremely well when he go his opportunity.
On Monday, Harbaugh spoke to reporters and he reiterated that he thinks McNamara had a “really solid game” against CSU.
“I thought Cade had a really solid game,” Harbaugh told reporters. “I think he walked away mad at himself for missing CJ Johnson on the crossing route and threw the ball to CJ a little wide on the opposite boundary. But other than that, made some terrific throws. Had the two-minute drive.”
“Yeah, I think it’s just the way he is. He’s a perfectionist. So thought it was a really solid game.”
Jim Harbaugh gives latest on Michigan QB battle
When asked about Cade McNamara saying that he only intends to play one quarterback in 2022, Jim Harbaugh said that was not necessarily the case.
“Same thing — we plowed this ground about as thoroughly as it can possibly be could be plowed. Dating back to the summer when you asked the question, I said, yeah, one could start, the other could start, or it could be a combination of both of them in the game. So those are the options. Happy that we’ve still got another week to look at it. We said that each would get a start. And make it as fair as it can possibly be.”
“But I think I said same thing you guys — prefer to have a starting quarterback going in each ball game, I mean, been very transparent with that. And also said if things are exactly the same as they were coming out of camp — which was pretty, pretty close to dead even — then, we were going to have to, as coaches, find a way to maximize both of their talents for the best use of the team. That remains a very viable option.”
It will be interesting to see what Jim Harbaugh ultimately decides to do with the quarterback position.
Nation, how do you think Harbaugh should handle Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy in 2022?
