Michigan has never exactly been known as quarterback U, but over the last 15 seasons the Wolverines have still gotten plenty of steady play under center - and in a few stretches, genuinely strong production. There have also been seasons, like 2024, when Michigan clearly didn’t evaluate its quarterback room well enough going into the year. And with the offense so heavily built around the run, landing elite five-star passers in Ann Arbor was always going to be a tough sell.
Still, there have been enough notable performances to sort out the top five Michigan quarterbacks since 2010.
Jake Rudock gets the nod at No. 5.
Wilton Speight and Cade McNamara both have cases, but if the conversation is strictly about quarterback play, Rudock’s lone season in Ann Arbor stands out. Jim Harbaugh brought him in after Rudock had already spent two years starting at Iowa, and the fit got better as the year went on.
He opened the season slowly, then settled in and started stacking productive outings. Rudock threw for more than 250 yards in each of his final five games as a Wolverine, finished second in program history for completions in a single season with 249, and his 3,017 passing yards rank third in school history for a season.
He also threw for 440 yards against Indiana, which stands third all-time in a single game for Michigan. He wasn’t much of an athlete, but he was smart, had a good arm, and helped Michigan go 10-3 in his only year.
At No. 4 is Devin Gardner, a former Inkster standout who came into college as the No. 44 prospect and the top dual-threat quarterback in the country. He arrived when Michigan already had Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson in the mix, even spending time at wide receiver in 2012 before taking over as the starter in each of his final two seasons.
Those years were rough for the program, and plenty of fans would rather move on from them, but Gardner kept producing. Michigan’s coaching situation was shaky during his run, yet he still put up huge numbers.
His 6,336 career passing yards rank fourth in program history, and he owns the top two single-game passing marks in Michigan history, both from 2013: 501 yards against Indiana and 451 against Ohio State.
No. 3 is Shea Patterson, who arrived in Ann Arbor after a high-profile path that began as the top quarterback recruit in high school and included two seasons at Ole Miss. Harbaugh landed him after the Wolverines’ 8-5 season in 2017, and while there were good moments, some fans felt he never fully matched the billing.
Michigan won 10 games in Patterson’s first season and nine in his last. He started all 26 games of his Michigan career and finished with 5,661 passing yards, 45 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions, while also adding 323 rushing yards and seven scores.
His 3,061 passing yards in 2019 rank second in school history, behind only John Navarre’s 3,331, and that same season he threw five touchdown passes against Indiana to tie Jake Rudock for the most passing touchdowns in a game in Michigan history.
Denard Robinson comes in at No. 2, and the numbers are impossible to ignore. He remains one of the most statistically accomplished quarterbacks ever to play in Ann Arbor, even if his career came during a stretch many Michigan fans would rather forget.
Robinson played through Rich Rodriguez’s final two seasons and the start of Brady Hoke’s tenure, appearing in 49 games with 35 starts at quarterback and two at running back. He rushed for 4,495 yards in his Michigan career, an NCAA record until Navy’s Keenan Reynolds broke it in 2015, and that total trails only Mike Hart in school history.
Robinson finished sixth in Heisman voting as a sophomore, then helped lead Michigan to an 11-2 record and a Sugar Bowl win in Hoke’s first season. He also threw for 6,250 yards, 49 touchdowns, and 39 interceptions.
He was never a dominant passer, but his legs were elite and he kept Michigan in games while making them wildly entertaining.
At No. 1 is J.J. McCarthy, whose resume is built on more than just raw stats.
He led Michigan to a national championship, and even if the Wolverines leaned on Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, McCarthy was central to what they did in 2023. He made smart decisions, handled his role, and delivered when asked.
McCarthy first spelled Cade McNamara in 2021, then won the quarterback battle in 2022 and started every game after that. Michigan reached the College Football Playoff in all three seasons he was on the roster.
For his career, McCarthy threw for 6,226 yards, which ranks sixth in Michigan history, and his 2,991 passing yards in 2023 rank fourth all-time in Ann Arbor. He also finished 10th in the Heisman race that season and won the Griese-Brees Big Ten Quarterback of the Year Award before leaving a year early and becoming a first-round pick with the Minnesota Vikings.
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