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Joel Klatt does a deep dive into the Michigan football QB controversy

Fox Sports’ venerated color commentator, Joel Klatt, recently launched his own podcast, and in his second episode, he went all-in discussing Michigan football’s quarterback situation.

In Week 1, the Wolverines started the incumbent, Cade McNamara, who ended up going 9-for-18 for 136 yards and one touchdown against Colorado State. It was far from awe inspiring considering the maize and blue return the bulk of its offensive production. But in Week 2, Michigan will start J.J. McCarthy, the former five-star, who came in against CSU to go 4-for-4 for 30 yards, while rushing three times for 50 yards and a touchdown. Head coach Jim Harbaugh expects to make a final decision on his starter for 2022 entering Week 3, assuming one quarterback pulls ahead of the other.

McNamara had his chance to showcase his abilities in Week 1, and with McCarthy getting his shot vs. Hawaii, there’s a possibility he will not relinquish the position.

So, what does Klatt think? He broke it all down in a lengthy segment, sharing what Michigan fans should want to see, what each brings to the table, and more.

“I think that Jim Harbaugh is in a bit of a tight spot with these two quarterbacks, because you can’t just evaluate what you think a player is at their best,” Klatt said. “And we’ve got to start with the fact that Cade McNamara just beat Ohio State. He just won the Big Ten championship and took Michigan to the playoff. He’s 13-3 as a starter. He’s won 13 of his last 15 games — this is a player that is playing at a high level. I know that Michigan fans would love it to be a little bit higher, in particular after the Georgia game, in which it probably looked like Michigan under Cade McNamara was maxed out, but the bottom line is that this guy wins. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, and his teammates really respect him.

“So you have to understand from Jim Harbaugh’s perspective, folks. He’s in a tight spot. So that’s why, as a Michigan fan, I would be really rooting for two of three outcomes. OK, there’s three possible things that are going to happen Saturday against Hawaii, two of them are good for Michigan — very good. One of them that’s very bad for Wolverines fans. J.J. McCarthy is either going to play great, he’s going to play awful, or it’s just going to be kind of OK. You should be rooting Michigan fans for him to be either great or awful. Gimme the band aid performance J.J. McCarthy — make it clear, rip the band aid off. OK, because the last thing Michigan fans want is the same type of walking through the season like we saw last year, where one guy is the quarterback and you’re running guys in and J.J. is kind of getting his time. But is he the starter? Could he be the starter?

“There was a lot of indecision last year, at least up until late in the season, and nobody wants that. Jim Harbaugh doesn’t want that. So they want the band aid performance from J.J. McCarthy, give me an A or give me an F. Because the bottom line is, this decision for Jim Harbaugh is going to be made, not because of the plays that J.J. McCarthy makes, but the mistakes he potentially doesn’t or does make. Because Cade, that’s what he’s done, folks. Right? Jim Harbaugh knows and trust what Cade McNamara can do. He can win 10 games, probably 11, maybe 11 this year? Maybe 12? I don’t know. He did that last year, he got over that hump of Ohio State. Can he do it again? Remember, he didn’t have to be great against that Buckeye team that was clearly banged up on defense. Michigan ran the ball 20 of the last 24 plays in the second half. Only threw four passes and they were play action that were advantageous situations to throw.

“So the question is can Cade McNamara to take you to a level where he could get into a potential shootout if necessary with C.J. Stroud? I think Michigan fans question that. They say, ‘You know what, I don’t know if Cade McNamara can do that because he couldn’t take his game to the next level when we really needed to, when we needed a quarterback to go above the X’s and O’s against Georgia. And J.J. McCarthy could be that.’ He’s the shiny object. College football fans and football fans really in general, you guys love shiny new objects. A a guy who started for three years in Colorado, I will tell you that my least favorite thing is backup quarterbacks. Oh, man, listen — Eric Greenberg, James Cox, Brian — I love you guys. I love you guys. I just don’t love backup quarterbacks. Those were my backups at the University of Colorado, and I just hated the sentiment that like, ‘Oh, there’s something better there. There’s something better there.’ And, that’s not always the case.

“So it’s gonna come down to this: can J.J. McCarthy play consistent football, not turn the ball over and really cap the floor for Michigan? Because Jim Harbaugh is trying to maximize his top-end potential, which is clearly J.J. McCarthy, and minimize downside exposure, which is clearly J.J. McCarthy. Cade’s just right in the middle. You know, he’s the solid retirement plan, 401k, and is not going to lose a lot of money. Not gonna make you a lot of money, but, boy, it’s really steady.

“So Michigan fans, you should be rooting for an A or for an F this weekend, OK? I don’t know which one it’s going to be. I have a good idea. Hawaii’s not very good. What is the spread? 25-30? I’ll look at that. I’m gonna look at that. We’ll get back to that and pod three — that’s going to be dropping on Thursday.”

Story originally appeared on Wolverines Wire