The Michigan Wolverines had to replace starters at almost every position after their national championship-winning 2023 season, so there were obvious questions surrounding the quality of play in the replacements. The most uncertainty came at the quarterback position. Replicating J.J. McCarthy’s 72.3 completion percentage, nearly 3,000 passing yards and 22-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio was going to be a tall task for any quarterback.

The Wolverines opted against the portal and stayed in-house for 2024. While the coaching staff was confident in what they had prior to the season beginning, it proved to be one of the catalysts of a major step back from the 2023 campaign.

Today, we begin a series where we review each and every position for Michigan this past football season. And we start with the most important position on the field — quarterback.

Beginning/End of Season Starter: Davis Warren

Davis Warren — despite not throwing ore than 10 passes in a single season up until this point — started the first three games for the Wolverines. He hrew for 118 yards, 204 yards and 122 yards in those three games, respectively. As he struggled to move the ball, the offense became stagnant, and even when the offense did gain momentum, Warren seemingly would throw an interception. He threw six interceptions in those three games, including three against Arkansas State, his last start until the Michigan State game.

Once Warren was given the nod once again, he kept the job for the remainder of the season. The next four-game stretch was much better for him, and his interceptions were limited to just one against Northwestern. The inconsistencies were still there and he did not throw for more than 200 yards in all but the one game against Texas, but he protected the ball and won four of the last six games.

Warren finished the season completing 64 percent of his passes for 1,199 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions. His biggest accomplishment was defeating Ohio State, and he heavily contributed to the win over Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl before going down with a torn ACL.

It wasn’t always pretty, but Warren grew immensely throughout the year, and his leadership will be helpful to the team in 2025.

Backup/Starter: Alex Orji

Alex Orji was widely expected to be Michigan’s starter in 2024, but obviously lost out to Warren right before the season-opener against Fresno State. That did not stop him from being impactful in Week 1, as he threw his first career touchdown pass to Donovan Edwards, while also running five times for 32 yards.

With his efficiency on the ground, Kirk Campbell continued to call a few option plays for Orji against Texas and Arkansas State, and he even threw another touchdown against the Red Wolves. With Warren’s interception issues, Sherrone Moore turned to Orji ahead of the game against USC.

Orji completed just 7-of-12 passes for 32 yards and ran for another 43 yards, but managed to win the game. He started the next week against Minnesota, but once again threw for less than 100 yards (86) and had just 12 rushing yards on nine attempts.

He started one more game against Washington, and then only saw snaps the rest of the regular season in the run game.

Well, except for one play.

Orji finished with 269 rushing yards and a touchdown. However, his 150 total passing yards in 11 games was a struggle to watch. He ultimately entered the transfer portal and signed with UNLV.

Backup/Starter: Jack Tuttle

It was projected by many in the media (including myself) that Jack Tuttle would be the starting quarterback for Michigan. As the No. 2 behind McCarthy in 2023, Tuttle was very effective by completing 15-of-17 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers.

However, after sitting out throughout the spring due to an injury, Tuttle was not ready to suit up and play at the start of the season. When he was healthy enough to play, Moore pulled the trigger, and Tuttle saw the majority of the snaps at Washington and at Illinois.

Something was still lingering, however, and Tuttle struggled mightily. Against the Huskies, Tuttle completed 10-of-18 passes for 98 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He looked lost on the field, and the Wolverines fell, 27-17. Moore stuck with him against the Illini, but the performance was not much better. Michigan scored seven total points, and Tuttle gave the ball away multiple times again.

A week later, Warren was named the starter again, and in a massive turn of events, Tuttle announced he was medically retiring from football.

Redshirt reserve: Jadyn Davis

Michigan picked up a massive commitment in the 2024 recruiting cycle in North Carolina native Jadyn Davis, who was the No. 9 ranked quarterback and the No. 112 overall player in his class. He began practicing with the team in Dec. 2023 during the run to the National Championship and was an early enrollee.

Despite the quarterback position struggling as much as it did in 2024, Davis only played in one game — the Northwestern game — and had one snap, a handoff to Tavierre Dunlap which went 20 yards to the house. Fans clamored to see more of Davis in 2024, but that never came to fruition.

Heading into 2025, Davis is expected to be part of the quarterback battle with Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene and No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Underwood. At worst, Davis will be Michigan’s QB3 in 2025.

Looking Ahead to 2025

The quarterback position needs to gravely improve in 2025 for Michigan to have a shot at making it back to the College Football Playoff. Limiting turnovers, moving the ball more consistently down the field and utilizing more receiving weapons should all be priorities.

With new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey bringing his adjusted spread scheme to Ann Arbor, the offense (and the quarterback) should look very different next season.