That's an absolutely absurd statement. What pass? His 7 yard pass to Nico? His 9 yard pass to Wangler? The 13 yarder to Gentry?
Patterson has shown a fear or inability to throw down field. His best asset right now are his legs, keeping him out of trouble. So far, I've seen nothing special about the kid. With QB's, you either have "IT" or you don't. Coming from a Browns fan that has seen junk for two decades, I'm good at picking out average QBs. When a Baker Mayfield steps in front of you, you know what's special and what's not. Patterson is not special, nor is he the savior of Michigan football. Something that a lot of people will learn against PSU, MSU & Wisconsin shortly.
Many people will blame the play calling and I have been one of them, but Patterson actually had plenty of opportunities to throw down field on Saturday and he didn't pull the trigger on multiple occasions. McCaffrey may not have as strong of an arm, but he had an it factor. I'll take poise & decision making over arm strength.
Your statement is absolutely absurd actually.
Patterson came up clutch despite trash like McKeon dropping a perfectly thrown ball that hit him right in the numbers and the bum drops. That was a 20-30 yard beauty of a strike right on the numbers. And that waste of space McKeon dropped it. I have been saying since last year McKeon is garbage. But they continue to trot him out there and throw him the ball. It's assinine. Kid shouldn't be playing period. Shouldn't even be on scholarship. He sucks.
Why not talk about Karran Higdon having wide open run lanes only to get 5-6 yards. People need to get off Karran Higdon's you know what. The kid is average. That's it. Even a slightly above average back would've turned those 5 yard runs he gets into 30+. An elite one would've housed a few of them. They DO NOT have a legitimate running game. They have an offensive line that went from complete trash to mediocre. Improvement. Sure. But at the end of the day, it's still not remotely good enough. They have a stone age passing scheme. Wonder why they WR's can't get separation? The scheme sucks. And they have a dumb offensive football coach. And they were getting screwed over by the refs. Patterson got two big runs wiped out by highly questionable hold calls.
Go watch the game again. You are smoking something my friend. This team would be worse than the 8-5 squad last year without Patterson. The OL is even weaker than it was last year and the defense just isn't as good as it was last year. The safeties still suck- no improvement whatsoever from them in coverage and they both miss tackle after tackle and the young NFL level CB duo isn't playing at the same level they were last year. Long and Hill both look like they are going through the motions and might have one foot out the door waiting for the NFL draft to come. And let's not talk about the interior DL. Let's not mention all that BS hype on Mike Dwumfour was just that- hype. The interior DL sucks. This coaching staff sure likes to sunshine pump mediocre players up. All we heard all off-season is sunshine blowing about Marshall, Kemp, and Dwumfour. Not one of them is legit. Not one. Dwumfour just had his best game of the year but he was a ghost or a scapegoat the first 4 games.
Patterson absolutely is special. There's a reason why he was the unanimous #1 QB recruit in high school and the #3 player. There's a reason why he won the Elite 11 MVP. There's a reason why he won the Army Bowl MVP. The reason? His raw natural talent is off the charts. His ability to throw that football accurately DOWN THE FIELD is almost as elite as it gets. He throws the ball on the run nearly as accurately as he does in the pocket. That is not normal. And he's a way better runner, and way more athletic than people realize.
Your post is laughable. His 7 yard pass to Nico? Nah. How about the 36 yard pass he drilled on a dime right into Nico's chest. A ball that traveled over 40 yards in the air. His 13 yarder to Gentry? Nah how about the 23 yard BEAUTY he roped right in between two defenders that hit Gentry right in the numbers. A pass that traveled more than 30 yards in the air. His 9 yard pass to Wangler. Nah how about the one he threw all the way across the field to the sideline on a freaking dime that hit McKeon right in the hands on 2nd and 2 and the bum dropped it. A ball that was thrown LITERALLY PERFECTLY over 30+ yards in the air that some scrub dropped. Killed a drive right there. How about two 20+ yard passes to Eubanks that were absolutely perfect balls that were again 30+ yards in the air. GTFO out of here with this he can't throw downfield horseshit. His throws down the field are gorgeous. Patterson is completing nearly 69% of his passes. For 7 TD's and 2 INT's. Should be 8 and 1, but it's not his fault McKeon sucks.
McCaffrey threw 6 passes against ND. Literally not one of them traveled in the air over 12 yards. He's thrown 15 passes all year. He has shown absolutely nothing at all. He's shown an "it" factor. Lol. That is the absolutely laughable and absurd comment actually. McCaffrey has literally shown nothing.