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Heading into the team's bye week, Sherrone Moore has another big decision to make at quarterback that will likely determine the outcome of the rest of Michigan's football season. After initially opening the year with Davis Warren under center, Moore quickly replaced the turnover-prone former walk-on with Alex Orji, who in turn was benched in his third start in favor of veteran Jack Tuttle during Week 6.
After the team's second loss of the season to Washington, Moore spoke to the media regarding the ongoing quarterback situation. The first-year head coach admitted that Tuttle was the far more effective passer in the game than Orji and said that he is leaning toward starting the six-year signal-caller coming out of the bye week.
“I think we’ll see when we watch the film, but I feel good about the way he played,” Moore said after the game, via On3.com. “I feel good about what he did. So right now, if we had to play tomorrow, I would say Tuttle would be the starting quarterback.”
Like Warren, Tuttle was part of the deep quarterback room in 2023 — led by eventual top-10 draft pick JJ McCarthy — who won a national championship. Before transferring to Michigan ahead of the 2023 season, Tuttle spent four years at Indiana, where he started a handful of games.
Michigan football quarterback competition
After losing two-year starter JJ McCarthy to the NFL Draft in 2024, Michigan decided not to hit the transfer portal in finding its next quarterback and instead opted to have an in-house competition. So far, the Moore-led coaching staff is likely regretting the decision.
In his first two starts, Warren led the team to a 2-1 start but threw just two touchdowns as opposed to six interceptions and struggled to consistently move the ball. Orji — who to that point sporadically entered the game as a wildcat quarterback — was permanently inserted against Arkansas State and started the next three games, notably winning a marquee matchup against USC in Week 4.
However, while Orji also went 2-1, the passing game significantly regressed under his tenure. His 86 passing yards against Minnesota were a career-high and after throwing for just 15 yards on seven attempts against Washington, he was supplanted by Tuttle.
While Orji has the fewest turnovers and the best singular game of the three thus far, he is undeniably the least efficient passer. Michigan operates a notoriously run-heavy offense but Moore's decision will likely come down to Tuttle's ability to at least keep opposing defenses somewhat honest.
