This I don't get. M has signed 5 4* QB's since 2015, not to mention all the transfers. Who is in charge of development of the important position? It doesn't add up for me.
This is very misleading. And simple thinking.
Harbaugh got to Michigan with a month to recruit the 2015 class.
He signed Zach Gentry, who was moved to TE. He was a 6'7, 230 pound HS option QB really. Didn't really throw the ball, was more of a runner. I'd say that position switch to TE looks pretty good right now as Gentry is a young rising star at the TE position. Genrty was only rated so highly because of his size and athletic ability. He wasn't some hot-shot pro-style QB recruit like Josh Rosen. He was a 6'7 athlete playing QB in high school. Alex Malzone was a Hoke commit, who honestly should've never been rated as high as he was. I've often said he got a raw deal because he wasn't given a shot to play QB here- when there was garbage like Speight and O'Korn handed every opportunity and then some. But the reality is- the kid wasn't a 4*. He probably got the helmet team bump.
Harbaugh has signed 3 actual QB's that he went out and got and were rated 4* and accurately such. Brandon Peters in 2016. Dylan McCaffrey in 2017. Joe Milton in 2018. It takes time to develop a QB. You do know that, right? Peters was a RS Frosh last year and McCaffrey redshirted and Milton was still in high school. Peters was the most ready out of high school of those 3. McCaffrey probably the most athletic all around- but was very skinny as a true frosh. Milton the most physically imposing with the biggest arm- but by far the most raw of those 3. Was always going to take time to develop one of them. Peters actually looked pretty promising as a Rs frosh- that was until that ugly bowl game performance.
Now, as far as the transfers go...Jake Rudock was a guy Iowa didn't want. Thought he couldn't play. They were replacing him with someone else. He would up being by far the best QB that Harbaugh has had at Michigan. And it's not close. O'Korn was a straight up bum whose transfer should've never been accepted. He was the worst QB in the FBS the year he got benched for a RB moonlighting as a QB at Houston. O'Korn literally had the worst QBR rating in the entire FBS that year. Rudock was a 2* recruit, O'Korn was a 3*. Out of a powerhouse HS in South Florida called St. Thomas Aquinas, so it's not like either of them lacked exposure. Might be a case where maybe- just maybe- the recruiting rags were right.
As for Patterson- no question he's got enormous talent. By far the most talent of any QB that Harbaugh has had to work with yet at Michigan. Also the highest rated. Patterson was a high school star at IMG Academy in Florida. He won the Elite 11 MVP, won the Army bowl MVP, was the #1 rated QB and #3 rated player overall in the 247Composite. He showed flashes on the field at Ole Miss in 3 games as a true frosh and 7 games as a true soph. He also showed a lot of inconsistency- which is what you'd expect out of a young QB. Patterson is going to have to hone himself in and just bring consistency to the position. If he tries to be Superman all the time like he did at Ole Miss it'll cost Michigan games. Ole Miss was so bad on defense maybe he felt like he had to do that. I don't know. All he has to do is make plays when they are there, turn on that play-making improvisational when necessary, and just execute the offense. They don't need him to be Superman. They just need him to be competent and above average.
