9/7/2022 Season Preview Now with Hindsight

I know what you’re thinking. “Where has all the content been? I’ve been refreshing this page since the end of July waiting for season previews. What happened to the in depth and always accurate analysis of each team. How am I supposed to know who to pick?” Well, Matt*, I DID post a season preview. Unfortunately, there was some glitch on this website. To find it, go back about 12 months and find the post labeled 9/1/2021 Season Preview Part 1. It probably holds up.***

So here’s the part that would have seemed a lot smarter had I gotten around to writing this before the season started. Buzz from the fans, the media, and the coaches was that Michigan had finally solved their QB problem. Cade McNamara is a pre-snap genius, never throws an interception, and won a Big Ten Championship. JJ McCarthy is a game breaking talent that is too good to keep off the field. Well, people have short memories. Wilton Speight was the next Chad Henne. Shea Patterson was a pre-season Heisman favorite twice! (and was awful both years). Cade did win a Big Ten championship, but was his performance last year really any better than mid-season Jake Rudock? JJ had a few outstanding plays last year, but people are forgetting the meh/freshmen QB stuff mixed in between. I’m not saying they can’t or won’t be great Quarterbacks, but acting like they were both already there is a bit naive.

So what is my prediction? Well, you know me. These posts are full of pessimism. Cade clearly did not take the huge step forward that the coaches claimed. He’s missing easy throws, not taking enough risks, and failing to see wide open guys down field. JJ will come in and look outstanding against horrible defenses (Hawaii and UConn). After passing Cade and being names official starter, he will forget how to pull a read option. Kinnick (Iowa) at night will turn him into Grandpa Simpson, get himself sacked for 15 yard losses. Cade would have handed the ball off a million times in this game and Michigan would have won 7-2; JJ will throw a game losing pick-six for Iowa’s only TD (possibly of the season).

But that was last year’s me. This year I’m going to try something different. I’m going to Pavlov myself into optimism and try to actually enjoy football this year. I’m risking jinxing my team by picking them to cover the spread (you’re welcome, Spartans). I’m ignoring the commercial breaks. I’m posting positives this year! Cade will be fine. Game 1 was just first game jitters. After the first few drives he looked fine. It was an audition for the job so I would have liked him try to shine a bit more (read: go deep) but he did exactly what he needed to do to blow out a bad team. He IS excellent at pre-snap reads. The bubble-screen TD was him recognizing the coverage. The runs were so successful in part because of his game management skills. JJ will come in for game 2. He’ll show again that his athleticism is game breaking, but he’ll make just enough mistakes to keep Cade the starter. Cade actually WILL take the step forward. With so many offensive weapons****, his Drew Brees-like ability to know exactly which one(s) will be open will prove to be even MORE of an upside than JJ’s dual threat presence. Cade will go 1st round to the NFL (not the Lions). With another year of experience, JJ will win the Heisman in 2023*****.

Alright, that’s enough optimism for one post. Check back soon for a look around the NCAA at some of the hilarious things that happened over the last two weeks.

*If there is more than one of you reading this and you’d like to receive a shout out in a future post, comment below!**

**Not you, Brandon. I don’t want to be accused of nepotism.

***Well… At least it holds up as well as it did last year… If I were actually good at this, I’d probably get paid, right?

****Erick All, Donovan Edwards, Luke Schoone..scone…Sailboatmaker, C Johnson, R Wilson, R Bell, A Anthony….

*****With Michigan… please don’t transfer.