The first chart is how these QBs did in their first 6 games of the season:
The second chart shows how they finished the season:
My takeaways:
-Jake Rudock went nuts the second half of his season. He increased his completion percentage by 3.6% despite throwing nearly 50 more passes. Although he threw more passes, those passes were went for more yards than the first half of the season. And finally, he went from a 5/6 TD to INT ratio to a 15-3 ratio.
-The biggest second half struggle goes to Wilton Speight in 2016. His completion percentage was exactly the same, and his yards and attempts were negligibly different. But he went from an 11-2 TD to INT ratio to a 7-5 ratio.
-I didn't look up Michigan's running stats for 2019, but my guess is Michigan struggled on the ground that season. That would explain why Patterson had so many passing attempts and so many yards (yards = 2nd most in school history, Rudock was #3). His 2019 passing percentage is by far the lowest both halves than any of the other QBs.
-As for Cade, he's obviously throwing far less than his predecessors, but his predecessors didn't have two RBs on track to both eclipse 1,000 yards rushing - just the 3rd time since 1975 it will have happened if they both make it. Cade's completion percentage isn't the best (or the worst) of the group, but it's not far off from the average. You could argue he'd be there if his receivers had caught some catchable balls, though I'm certain you could say the same for the other QBs. Finally, his TD-INT ratio is excellent. I think it's safe to say if he had Rudock's TD-INT ratio (or something close to it) that it would be JJ time. Of course his most important stat is the 6-0 stat.
It will be interesting to see how Cade finishes. Win the games.
| Player | Record | Completions | Attempts | Completion % | Yards | TD | INT |
| Jake Rudock 2015 | 5-1 | 106 | 171 | 62.0% | 1135 | 5 | 6 |
| Wilton Speight 2016 | 6-0 | 98 | 159 | 61.6% | 1194 | 11 | 2 |
| Shea Patterson 2018 | 5-1 | 95 | 138 | 68.8% | 1187 | 10 | 3 |
| Shea Patterson 2019 | 5-1 | 92 | 161 | 57.1% | 1246 | 9 | 3 |
| Cade McNamara 2021 | 6-0 | 72 | 119 | 60.5% | 986 | 5 | 1 |
The second chart shows how they finished the season:
| Player | Record | Completions | Attempts | Completion % | Yards | TD | INT |
| Jake Rudock 2015 | 5-2 | 143 | 218 | 65.6% | 1882 | 15 | 3 |
| Wilton Speight 2016 | 3-3 | 106 | 172 | 61.6% | 1344 | 7 | 5 |
| Shea Patterson 2018 | 5-2 | 115 | 187 | 61.5% | 1413 | 12 | 4 |
| Shea Patterson 2019 | 4-3 | 122 | 220 | 55.5% | 1815 | 14 | 5 |
| Cade McNamara 2021 | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? |
My takeaways:
-Jake Rudock went nuts the second half of his season. He increased his completion percentage by 3.6% despite throwing nearly 50 more passes. Although he threw more passes, those passes were went for more yards than the first half of the season. And finally, he went from a 5/6 TD to INT ratio to a 15-3 ratio.
-The biggest second half struggle goes to Wilton Speight in 2016. His completion percentage was exactly the same, and his yards and attempts were negligibly different. But he went from an 11-2 TD to INT ratio to a 7-5 ratio.
-I didn't look up Michigan's running stats for 2019, but my guess is Michigan struggled on the ground that season. That would explain why Patterson had so many passing attempts and so many yards (yards = 2nd most in school history, Rudock was #3). His 2019 passing percentage is by far the lowest both halves than any of the other QBs.
-As for Cade, he's obviously throwing far less than his predecessors, but his predecessors didn't have two RBs on track to both eclipse 1,000 yards rushing - just the 3rd time since 1975 it will have happened if they both make it. Cade's completion percentage isn't the best (or the worst) of the group, but it's not far off from the average. You could argue he'd be there if his receivers had caught some catchable balls, though I'm certain you could say the same for the other QBs. Finally, his TD-INT ratio is excellent. I think it's safe to say if he had Rudock's TD-INT ratio (or something close to it) that it would be JJ time. Of course his most important stat is the 6-0 stat.
It will be interesting to see how Cade finishes. Win the games.
