Charles LeClaire – USA TODAY Sports
The Michigan Wolverines are looking for a quick turnaround in 2015 under new head coach Jim Harbaugh. One of the key components to getting them back into the mix for contending in the Big Ten is undoubtedly fixing their issues at quarterback. While Harbaugh has positioned the Wolverines to be in good shape down the line under center, the answer in 2015 should be Jake Rudock.
Rudock has been a starter over the last two seasons with the Iowa Hawkeyes but decided to look into a graduate transfer after losing his starting job to C.J. Beathard. Head coach Kirk Ferentz gave Rudock the freedom to transfer wherever he would like for his final year of eligibility and the fifth-year senior decided on Michigan once the Big Ten granted him a waiver to transfer in conference without sitting out a season. With that out of the way, Rudock made his transfer official and will join the Wolverines in Ann Arbor this summer.
He joins a quarterback derby that is wide open coming out of spring practice. Junior Shane Morris is the only quarterback on campus right now that has any collegiate experience and it has done little to cement him into the top spot heading into 2015. He appeared in just five games last season and completed only 14-of-40 passes for 128 yards and three interceptions in 2014. His sophomore season will be better remembered for him being left in a game with an obvious concussion than for anything he put on the stat sheet.
This spring, Morris split reps with early enrollee Alex Malzone and redshirt freshman Wilton Speight. Offensive coordinator Tim Drevno had good things to say about all three of the quarterbacks as spring practice wound down but did say that none of them had distinguished themselves and left open the possibility of a newcomer joining the team during the summer coming in and winning the starting job ahead of their season opener September 3 against the Utah Utes.
Michigan has to get more out of their passing attack than they did in 2014 if they hope to have any success in the pro-style offensive attack of Harbaugh. Last season, Michigan ranked No. 11 in the Big Ten in passing offense, averaging just 170.2 yards per game through the air with 10 passing touchdowns on the season, second fewest in the conference, and a conference-high 18 interceptions.
Rudock, meanwhile, helped lead Iowa to the No. 4 passing offense in the Big Ten last season (before he lost the job to Beathard) and showed a steady hand under center in leading the offense. He completed 61.7 percent of his throws in 2014 for 2,436 yards with 16 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He is far and away the most accomplished quarterback available to Michigan for the 2015 season and he hasn’t even set foot on campus yet.
Jim Harbaugh is going to fix the quarterback issues that have really hurt Michigan in recent years and has begun stockpiling QB talent for the future. But if Harbaugh wants to get his run at the helm of the Wolverines off to a fast start, his best bet is to ride the experienced hand of Jake Rudock for the 2015 season.
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