Who is Michigan QB Davis Warren? Surprising contender for starting job is cancer survivor and former walk-on

Michigan has a quandary at quarterback heading into its season opener as the nation’s defending national champion, and an unlikely option is on deck for a potential breakthrough after spending most of his career as a walkon.

Michigan has not yet named a starter, but the two-man battle between Alex Orji and Davis Warren was too close to call earlier in the week, leaving the door open for Warren, a former walk-on, to take over for departed superstar JJ McCarthy, a top-10 NFL Draft pick. No. 9 Michigan opens the season against Fresno State on Saturday (7:34 p.m. ET, NBC) before a massive showdown against No. 3 Texas in Week 2.

Could a former walk-on really be Michigan’s starting quarterback?

“If you know him on a personal level and what he’s been through, that kid’s a fighter,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said. “So, you know, it was not just going to be given to anybody. They had to go earn it. And he’s earned the opportunity to compete for it. And that’s what he’s been doing.”

Should Warren win the starting job at Michigan, it won’t be the biggest accomplishment in his life. That’s because Warren has a different perspective as a cancer survivor.

In March 2019, Warren was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a less common form of cancer for adolescents. He underwent five months of chemotherapy treatments, spending most of the summer in a hospital as he lost 35 pounds of weight and then rebuilt his strength as a high school junior. At the Children’s Hospital in downtown Los Angeles, he set a goal and found a small garden to throw footballs with his father in between treatments.

“I held that mindset throughout the whole time. I set that date, October 3, we were playing against the Hill School. I told my coach, I told my parents, ‘I’m gonna go…

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Author : Brandon Marcello

Publish date : 2024-08-28 13:21:29

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