Tom Brady? Jim Harbaugh? J.J. McCarthy? Who are the greatest Michigan quarterbacks ever?

Jim Harbaugh has already called J.J. McCarthy the greatest quarterback in Michigan’s history.

The argument isn’t difficult to make. Despite not making his starting debut until the second game of last season, McCarthy has built a résumé that is largely unmatched despite the Wolverines’ long list of notable college passers — even if some, like Tom Brady, went on to bigger and better things after leaving Ann Arbor.

In fact, there are enough contenders for the program’s Mount Rushmore that Brady doesn’t make the cut of the five best college quarterbacks to play for the Wolverines:

J.J. McCarthy (2021-23)

McCarthy is 26-1 as the starter, with the one loss coming to TCU in last year’s Fiesta Bowl. That winning percentage is the best in program history, the best of any Bowl Subdivision starter in the past decade and one of the best in FBS history. He’s also the program’s career leader in completion percentage, efficiency rating and adjusted yards per attempt. Should he come back next season, McCarthy could own a big number of the Wolverines’ career and single-season passing records. Winning a national championship would make it very hard to argue against McCarthy as the best in program history.

Rick Leach (1975-78)

Leach was a four-year starter who led the Wolverines to three Big Ten championships and, after dropping the rivalry as a freshman, three wins in a row against Ohio State. He went 38-8-2 overall as the starter and twice finished in the top nine of the Heisman Trophy voting, including a third-place finish as a senior. While his numbers are from a different era — such as that 46.3% career completion percentage — Leach finished his career with an NCAA record of 82 touchdowns accounted for.

Benny Friedman (1924-26)

You’ll need to turn back the clock a century to include Friedman, one of the inaugural inductees into…

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Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2024-01-07 19:34:44

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