Michigan's 2014 Recruiting Options at QB

A lot of people are pretty worried that Michigan is only signing one quarterback to the 2013 class (5* Shane Morris). I'm not one of those people, but this contingency definitely exists. This upcoming season, senior QB and Heisman candidate Denard Robinson will be in charge. Next season, our options will be Devin Gardner, Russell Bellomy, and Shane Morris (who will be a true freshman). In 2014, the list will consist of Russell Bellomy, Shane Morris, and whoever we sign in the 2014 class. Now, if Morris is as advertised, we should be in great shape. However, anything can happen in college football and it's best to be prepared. It looks like the coaching staff is being incredibly picky with which 2014 quarterback(s) they offer. They currently have over 45 offers out to 2014 players, none of which are quarterbacks. I wouldn't be surprised if the coaching staff signed two quarterbacks in the 2014 class, but I also don't think there's a problem with only signing one. Who are the options, as of now?

Chance Stewart (Sturgis, MI)

If I was a betting woman, I would put my money on the fact that Stewart is one of the quarterbacks the coaches go after very hard. He may end up Michigan's #1 QB target for 2014. Stewart is the prototypical pro-style quarterback right out of Sturgis, Michigan. He stands 6'6" (!) and 205 pounds. He already holds two offers, one from Western Michigan and one from Wisconsin. He recently camped at Michigan and the coaches told him they liked what they say and that they would get back to him regarding an offer in a couple weeks. To me, that means he'll probably be receiving an offer any day now. Since there aren't many 2014 rankings out yet, it's hard to say how Stewart ranks with the best of them, but most analysts are saying he will be one of the top quarterbacks in the midwest and the country. The only site that does have some 2014 rankings is 247 and they rank Stewart an early 4* and also say he is "warm" on Michigan. No surprise there. Stewart told mgoblog that Wisconsin and Michigan are at the top of his list right now, even though Michigan hasn't offered yet. It looks like he wants to make his decision sometime in his junior year.

DeShone Kizer (Toledo, OH)

Kizer is another excellent quarterback from the midwest, but he's a dual-threat QB. He stands 6'4" and 205 pounds and he's from Toledo, OH. He currently holds offers from Boston College, Bowling Green, Illinois, Louisville, Nebraska, Syracuse, and Toledo. 247 ranks him an early 4* and they also rank him the 91st best player in the nation, the 3rd best dual threat QB, and the 4th best player out of Ohio for the class of 2014. It's incredibly early to be ranking 2014 players with such accuracy, so I wouldn't be surprised if those rankings changed, but it does show his potential. The fact that he's already gotten two B1G offers is impressive. Kizer also camped at Michigan recently but the coaches told him they want to wait to see a couple of his games this season before thinking about an offer. That's quite different from what they told Stewart, but not that surprising. Although Kizer will probably be a great quarterback, dual-threat QBs probably aren't that high on our list. Interestingly enough, Kizer told Tremendous in an interview that he views himself as a pocket QB who can extend the play, not an athlete who can throw the ball. Even though Kizer is from Ohio, he's grown up a Michigan fan. He's from Toledo (which is actually where I'm from) so I wasn't surprised at all to read that he's grown up a Michigan fan. Kizer is going to be a highly sought-after QB, which is evident by how many offers he already has as a sophomore.

Drew Barker (Hebron, KY)

Barker is a dual-threat quarterback out of Hebron, Kentucky who stands 6'3" and 204 pounds. He already has offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Louisville, Purdue, South Carolina, and Western Kentucky. 247 gives Barker an early 4* ranking. Eleven Warriors writes that he will probably be one of Ohio State's top targets for the class of 2014. He has apparently been told that he is at the top of Urban Meyer's board at the quarterback position, although they have not offered him yet. After watching his tape, he looks very balanced between his abilities to throw and run. As a sophomore, he was named First Team All-District, passed for 1,473 yards and 7 touchdowns and also rushed for another 1,570 yards and 22 touchdowns. It looks like the Michigan coaching staff will be looking at a few dual-threat QBs for the class of 2014. Whether that's as a secondary option remains to be seen.

Caleb Henderson (Alexandria, VA)

Henderson is a pro-style quarterback out of Alexandria, Virginia. He stands 6'4" and 223 pounds with offers from Maryland, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. 247 gives Henderson an early 4* ranking and also names him the 30th best player in the nation and 2nd best pro-style quarterback in the country. Henderson also recently camped at Michigan and interestingly enough, was told that he'd hear from the coaching staff in a few days. As a sophomore, Henderson passed for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns. Henderson admitted to being a fan of Ohio State when he was younger and seems impressed with Urban Meyer. He told Eleven Warriors that he's a huge Tim Tebow fan. He has also expressed interest in making a decision sooner rather than later so he can get the recruiting process over with. It sounds like the schools that interest Henderson the most are Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State. Mike Farrell of Rivals, however, at one point tweeted that Henderson could commit to OSU on the spot if offered.

Will Grier (Davidson, NC)

Grier is a pro-style quarterback out of Davidson, North Carolina. He stands 6'3" and 180 pounds and holds offers from East Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, and Wake Forest. That Florida offer sure seems to stand out. 247 gives Grier an early 4* ranking and also ranks him 82nd overall in the nation and the 5th best pro-style quarterback. Grier threw for over 3,900 yards as a sophomore. ESPN's RecruitingNation writes that Grier wants to make an early decision so that he can focus on high school football and also recruiting for his future school. I haven't heard anything about Grier potentially visiting Michigan though, so as of now, chances are slim.

Jeremy Holley (Elyria, OH)

Holley is a pro-style quarterback out of Elyria, Ohio. He stands 6'5" and 210 pounds and does not yet have any offers. As a sophomore, he threw for 1,925 yards and 21 touchdowns. He has camped at both Michigan and Ohio State camps and seemed to have impressed at both. He was interviewed by Tremendous and said that although as a kid he was an Ohio State fan, he's grown into a Michigan fan. He "fell in love" with the way Chad Henne and Mario Manningham played at Michigan. As did I. It looks like there may be multiple legit options at quarterback from the state of Ohio, so we'll see how the coaching staff handles this.

Coleman Key (Broken Arrow, OK)

Key is a pro-style quarterback out of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He stands 6'5" and 210 pounds and does not yet have any offers. He recently made a visit to Ann Arbor and impressed the coaches but did not receive an offer. He was however invited to the Big House BBQ in July, which he plans on attending. It sounds like Key has been getting a lot of interest from both Oklahoma and Texas, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had a long offer list in the next few months.

It's probably a little early to narrow down who the coaching staff is really interested in, especially when they haven't handed out any offers yet. I do feel pretty confident about Stewart and Kizer though; they seem to stand out above the rest. Other names to keep an eye out for include Cody Calloway, Brandon Dawkins, Joey Duckworth, Justice Hansen, Tyler Harris, Brent Lyles, Shelby Spence, Luke Ward, and Tyler Wiegers.