Where Michigan turns to at QB now with Dante Moore off the board

Now that five-star Detroit quarterback Dante Moore is officially committed to the Oregon Ducks, Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines are going to have to do some quick work on other quarterbacks in the 2023 class.

Up to this point, Moore was the only quarterback Michigan extended a scholarship offer to in his class. The Wolverines went all in on him and ultimately came up short. It was a risky move Harbaugh was willing to make, but now he and the coaching staff are in a tough spot with many of the other top passers in the 2023 class committed elsewhere.

If the Wolverines are looking to flip an already-committed quarterback, the popular name fans have been looking at even before Moore committed to Oregon is three-star in-state quarterback Brady Drogosh. He is a mobile quarterback at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, playing high school ball at Warren De La Salle. He committed to Cincinnati back in May and has been locked in ever since.

Speaking with Maize n Brew last week, Drogosh thinks his commitment wouldn’t change if Michigan offered him.

“I don’t think (an offer from Michigan) affect my recruitment,” Drogosh said. “I would definitely be honored to receive an offer from the school I watched growing up, but I have really fallen in love with Cincinnati and I don’t see myself flipping.”

Of course, things can change with an offer from an elite in-state institution like Michigan. But as of this moment, Drogosh seems all in on Cincy. He has helped build a solid class for the Bearcats, ranking No. 12 in the country, so it would be a big change of heart for him to go elsewhere at this point. I’ll be interested to see how that recruitment develops when/if Michigan ends up offering him.

Meanwhile, of the top-50 quarterbacks in the 2023 class, according to 247Sports’ composite, a whopping four of those guys are uncommitted. Of those four, two of them are four-star prospects — Dylan Lonergan and Brock Glenn. Both are from the south and both seem destined to stay down south, with Lonergan picking up Alabama Crystal Balls recently after setting his commitment date for July 12. Glenn has multiple predictions for Auburn, but no announced timeline for a commitment.

But let’s be real — was Michigan REALLY about to offer a southern quarterback prospect in this day and age of pay-to-play? Probably not.

The other two uncommitted quarterbacks are low-three-star guys — Vic Sutton (No. 700 overall) and Darius Cowens (No. 825 overall).

Sutton has a just a few D1 offers in hand, including Arkansas, Maryland and Virginia Tech. Last season at Madison Central High School in Mississippi, Sutton completed 60% of his throws for 1,653 yards, 17 touchdowns and only three picks. He also ran for 334 yards and five touchdowns. He is coming off a knee injury, so that is something worth monitoring moving forward if Michigan picks up interest in him.

Cowens, meanwhile, has just two offers to his name — Arizona State and Colorado State. At 6-foot and 170 pounds, the California native is a true dual threat. As a junior, he completed 57% of his passes for 2,369 yards and 26 touchdowns. He also ran for 550 yards and 11 scores. That’s right, he had combined 37 touchdowns between the air and the ground. Pretty impressive for a lowly regarded quarterback.

247Sports’ Greg Biggins said during the winter Cowens could be a hot commodity this spring when colleges are able to see him throw, but so far he has not seen any other offers roll in. Biggins also saw him throw earlier this summer at the OT7 event in Las Vegas, noting, “He has a live arm and made some really nice throws down the field. He showed touch on the deep ball as well and didn’t even get to show off his running ability in this setting, which has made him one of the more exciting quarterbacks out West, since his freshman year.”

Perhaps Michigan will give these two uncommitted quarterbacks a look. It wouldn’t hurt to evaluate either guy, at the very least.

If the Wolverines aren’t interested in any of the already-mentioned options — and you hope the are — the transfer portal is always an option, but Michigan would probably have to wait and see who hops in after the 2022 season. That would be a really long time without having an incoming quarterback, so I’m not sure how likely an option the portal really is.

Of course, they can always continue to swing for the fences and go after guys who are highly ranked and committed elsewhere, but at this point it is probably a waste of time.

Michigan has dug itself into a difficult situation at quarterback in this 2023 class. Only offering Moore at the quarterback position was a huge risk. Sometimes, things don’t pan out the way you would hope. The only thing to do now for the Wolverines is look forward.