There were 337 prospects at the NFL Combine in February, and all but one of those 337 are now on a roster after the NFL Draft and the first wave of undrafted free agents have been completed.
The one player who is now feeling very left out is former Michigan Wolverines’ quarterback Shea Patterson. For the former No. 4 overall recruit in the class of 2016 and the No. 1 quarterback, it is sadly a shocking reality he currently does not have an NFL home.
Patterson had a lot of ups and downs in his career at Michigan, but the stats seem to support a career beyond a collegiate starter. Along with the pedigree of being highly recruited out of high school, Patterson threw for 5,661 yards, 45 touchdowns, 15 interceptions and had a 60.1 completion percentage in two seasons. Those aren’t numbers that are going to jump off the page, and certainly don’t suggest even an early Day 3 pick should have been spent on him; however, it is a bit shocking a team has not even taken a flier on the kid.
With all due respect to guys like Prairie View A&M’s Jalen Morton, Princeton’s Kevin Davidson and San Jose State’ Josh Love, who were three of at least 10 quarterbacks given opportunities as undrafted free agents, it really makes you wonder why Patterson has yet to get a call.
There were times Patterson looked like a serviceable quarterback. Just go back and watch him pick apart the secondary of the Michigan State Spartans back in November. He completed 72.7 percent of his passes and threw for nearly 400 yards and four touchdowns in the best game of his career at Michigan.
But for every peak performance like that, there is one he was completely obsolete, like earlier in the year against Wisconsin.
Nonetheless, it baffling there hasn’t been a single organization willing to even give him a chance at competing for a spot on a roster.
The former Michigan quarterback took to Twitter with a thought the situation:
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity...I will be more than ready when my number is called.
— Shea Patterson (@SheaPatterson_1) April 27, 2020
This is not an if, but a when. Patterson does have talent and he showed it throughout his career at Michigan. Was he the quarterback that helped ascend the Michigan football program to new heights? No, but that doesn’t mean he is not capable of helping a team at the next level even on just a scout-team basis.
Juwan Howard virtually meets with another top recruit
Late last week, Michigan met with 2021 five-star combo-guard Jaden Hardy in hopes to persuade him to come to Michigan. Even with the coronavirus halting several things, the recruiting trail stays hot for Howard and his staff as they met with another five-star recruit, Trevor Keels.
Source: Michigan’s Juwan Howard and staff will conduct a virtual meeting with five-star junior Trevor Keels this evening. Last one was with UNC last week.
— Jake (@jakeweingarten) April 28, 2020
Keels is the No. 18 recruit in the country according to 247sports composite rankings. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard ranks as the second player in the country at his position and he holds offers from some of the best basketball schools in the country including Duke, Villanova, Louisville and the favored Virginia Cavaliers.
Two Wolverines are in the top 100 of CBS’ 2021 NFL Draft prospects
CBS Sports released their top 100 NFL Draft prospects for the 2021 class with two current Michigan players finding their way onto the list.
Coming in at No. 51 is right tackle Jalen Mayfield who is coming in hot on a lot of people’s board for the 2021 NFL Draft. Mayfield was ranked as high as the No. 10 overall pick in 247sports Way-Too-Early Mock Draft. Walterfootball.com also put out their 2021 NFL Mock Draft with Mayfield as the No. 15 overall pick, heading to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The other to make the list is wide receiver Nico Collins coming in as the No. 79 prospect headed to the pros next season. It was a bit of a surprise to hear Collins would come back to Ann Arbor for another season, but it seems to have been the wise move as a record 37 receivers were taken in the NFL Draft this season and his teammate Donovan Peoples-Jones fell all the way to the sixth round to the Cleveland Browns this year.
National Brews:
- Bob Nightengale is reporting the MLB has tinkered with the idea of splitting all of baseball into three divisions based on team’s location amid the coronavirus outbreak. There would be an East, West and Central division with 10 teams each. Teams would only play against the 10 teams in their respective divisions and there will be no interleague play until an expanded postseason took place. Play would resume in late-June under the proposed plan.
- Five-star point guard Daishen Nix decommitted from UCLA and will join Isaiah Todd and Jalen Green in the G-League.