ANN ARBOR, Mich. — On Thursday, Cade McNamara earned a very special distinction: he’s the first quarterback in the Jim Harbaugh era to be named a team captain outright.
While Shea Patterson was an alternate, it does speak volumes that Michigan has a signal caller get that type of respect from his teammates (the captaincy vote is via the players, not the coaches) in anticipation of the season. But if you listen to a vocal sect of the Michigan fan base, they’re banking on his fall camp competition, J.J. McCarthy, to be the starting quarterback. The national media also seems on board. But McNamara being named a team captain further shows that he has earned the trust and respect of his teammates — which is no small thing for a quarterback.
Patterson aside, there have been a lot of quarterbacks to start a game in the Jim Harbaugh era who have not earned this distinction — a list that includes Jake Rudock, Wilton Speight, John O’Korn, Brandon Peters, and Joe Milton. That’s not to say any of the above weren’t leaders, but McNamara brings a different element to this team, one you can’t quantify via statistics.
“Quarterback makes a lot of big decisions that impact the game and you always want the guy who’s making those decisions to be respected by the guys he’s making the decisions for,” fellow team captain, defensive tackle Mazi Smith said. “You always want to look into a quarterback and see somebody who embodies the team and can bring the team together when he needs to. And keep the team going.”
And he appears to be keeping the team going both on and off the field.
From Big Ten Network’s report that McNamara was can’t-miss in the fall practice they witnessed to begin voted a team captain, there’s a ton of evidence that the fourth-year quarterback has seized on his opportunity, regardless of the upstart McCarthy nipping at his heels. While there’s more to playing quarterback than simply making throws, though some fans comment that he needs to be better in that regard — despite having the higher completion percentage a year ago, even with a bigger sample size — it does appear that he’s doing just that in fall camp.
“I feel like the level I’m playing at is very high right now in terms of where I’ve been in my career,” McNamara said. “I have for sure gotten much better than I was this time last year or even at the end of the season last year. And I’ve recognized that and obviously, my teammates…