Shea Patterson is officially eligible and the final piece of the 2018 Wolverine puzzle has been added.
Michigan should be the B1G favorite in 2018.
They’re adding a former No. 1 overall recruit who loves the University of Michigan and has family ties to the school and area. This site has written extensively about Patterson’s fit covering everything from his backyard tendencies to Harbaugh tweaking the offense by studying the Eagles’ RPOs.
That’s not what this is. This is a declaration. This is a proclamation. A B1G title is an absolute must for the Wolverines this year. There are no excuses. On paper, they will likely be the best team in the conference besides Ohio State, and that game in Columbus should be an absolute dogfight.
Lost in the hysteria surrounding 2017 was that Michigan went 8-5 while getting absolutely nothing from the QB position. Scratch that, Michigan was killed by their own quarterbacks. Against the Spartans, the Wolverines were playing 10 against 12 on offense, okay. Those days are over with Patterson under center.
Don Brown to Shea Patterson: “Give me 21 points a game and I’ll give you the world.”
— Robb Lippitt (@lippesq) April 26, 2018
I love this tweet because it pretty much captures why I think Michigan is going to pummel teams in 2018. You have a defense that’s arguably the third best in the country after Alabama and Clemson. Great defenses and serviceable quarterback play has won The Tide multiple National Championships. Rarely does a team get the chance to add a weapon like Patterson to the fold.
On top of that, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way. The offensive line has to gel and play better than they have since.... well, it’s been a while. If the offensive line implodes, there are going to be ripple effects. More than ripples, really.
Michigan’s skill positions are oozing with talent. Both tight ends emerged as weapons despite the QB issues, Tarik Black and Donovan Peoples-Jones are both elite recruits who now have a full year of experience. Black, in particular, looked really good before getting injured.
Go to the backfield and there are few teams with a better tandem than Higdon and Evans. If the young pups make a jump, Patterson’s mere presence should provide a wave of opportunities for all these guys that they sorely missed in 2017.
And that’s really all there is to it. If you look at last season objectively, the Wolverines were really not that far off. 8-5 isn’t great on paper, but Michigan State and South Carolina are easily won if the quarterbacks don’t self destruct. I think better-than-average play probably gets you out of the Wisconsin or Ohio State games with a dub as well. How different are things if the team was 9-3 or 10-2 last year? I get that you can’t take those losses away, but extenuating circumstances should give them a mulligan.
Michigan has now added a legitimate stud at the most important position, on a team that has talent pretty much everywhere. Michigan is going to have a defense that boat races teams early, and an offense with an army of weapons that just need some space to really grow their wings.
It’s got to be championship or bust next year. Punch that ticket to the playoff; there are no excuses.