Shea Patterson, captain or not, says he’s ready to lead Michigan’s offense

Shea Patterson, in theory, is the biggest winner of the offseason when it comes to Michigan switching to a more spread, RPO-based attacking offense heading into the 2019 season. While perhaps not a dual-threat quarterback in the traditional sense of the word, his arm talent mixed with his ability to run make him a threat to make some sort of big play on any given down.

So far, it sounds like the philosophy change is being seen early in the approaching 2019 season for the Wolverines signal-caller.

“I do see him doing a lot of Shea things in practice,” junior center Cesar Ruiz told reporters on Thursday. “I think you guys should know what that means, doing a lot of Shea things. We’ve seen him do it previously when he first got into college. I see him more comfortable doing what he does out there in our new offense. He’s in his own category, really. Shea things is just him being able to turn a play from nothing into something. Just seeing him do great and mindblowing things like that.”

What are “Shea Things” exactly? Patterson gave his side of the story.

“Just going out there and making plays,” Patterson said. “I ran a little bit of the same offensive scheme while I was at Ole Miss and we’ve got so many guys out there on the edge and at wideout in open space making plays. I definitely feel a lot more natural.”

There was a bit of buzz on social media earlier this week after Michigan announced its three captains (OL Ben Bredeson, LB/S Khaleke Hudson, DT Carlo Kemp) and Patterson was not one of them. He was, however, elected an alternate captain along with safety Josh Metellus by Jim Harbaugh. Patterson is not quite sure what that means, but still vows to lead the offense.

“I think those three captains that were chosen are great captains and guys,” Patterson said. “I voted for those guys. An alternate captain, I’m not too sure (what the responsibilities are), but whatever. Me and Josh are the alternate captains of this team and I know the defense is going to go far with him and I know the offense is going to go far with me and Ben (Bredeson).”

There has been talk leading up to the season that Michigan could play both Patterson and Dylan McCaffrey this season, but he does not seem concerned about it and stressed he wants to be out there every play to help the team win.

“I’m not sure,” Patterson said. “I’m just going to go out there as a quarterback — as the starting quarterback. I want to be out there every single play. That’s my job. I want to win every game and I always want the ball in my hands.

“But that’s up to coach Harbaugh.”

Does he feel any heat from perceived pushes from quarterbacks behind him? Patterson maintains that his only competition is in the mirror.

“Everybody’s competitive,” Patterson said. “I think we do a good job of pushing each other in the meetings. At the end of the day, there’s nobody I’m competing with. I’m competing with myself.”

More from Patterson’s availability on Thursday can be found in the video below.

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