Shea Patterson signs with Kansas City Chiefs as undrafted free agent

Shea Patterson was one of three Michigan Wolverines not drafted, but is not without a chance to make an NFL roster. According to Detroit News’ Angelique Chengelis, Patterson has signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent.

Patterson’s story is well-documented at this point. He is a five-star quarterback coming out of high school that started his career at Ole Miss, but transferred out of the program amid scandal under old head coach Hugh Freeze. Patterson joined the Wolverines ahead of the 2018 season and made 26 starts over the last two seasons.

Patterson was one of the more efficient passers in program history and finished his Michigan career ranked first in passing yards per game (217.7), No. 7 in passing yards (5,661) and sixth in touchdown passes with 45.

Overview (full scouting report here)

Patterson came into college as a highly-touted prospect and while he did not exactly live up to his five-star status, objective viewers of his game would tell you that he wound up being a solid-to-good college quarterback. He was not awful, nor was he tremendous. Despite what Michigan fans might tell you, Patterson leaves Ann Arbor as arguably the best quarterback that Jim Harbaugh has had, even if the results were a bit underwhelming compared to the hype. He played well down the stretch this season in Josh Gattis’ west-coast, run-based offense and it seems like that might be his best fit in the NFL. Patience from both the coaching staff he winds up working with, as well as himself, might allow him to unlock some potential that may have been left on the table in college. There are tools and intangibles here. If he is able to clean up some of the mechanical flaws in his game, there’s a chance he could wind up being a Case Keenum-type, but it looks more likely for now that he is a player that winds up fighting for a spot throughout his career and potentially having a few cups of coffee on the 53-man roster.

While Patterson may have waited longer than he wanted to get signed to an NFL team, he finds himself in a good situation. Being in the same quarterback room as Patrick Mahomes, and having a QB friendly head coach in Andy Reid isn’t too shabby. Patterson will be joining former Michigan teammates Mike Danna (DL) and Lavert Hill (CB) in Kansas City.

Michigan saw 10 players selected in the 2020 draft, which is tied for second in the Jim Harbaugh with the 2017 NFL Draft class. We recapped the destinations and players that were selected here.