Welcome to Glass Slipper! Oh, how lucky I am to root for the team that employs Elly De La Cruz; please enjoy the show.

- Jacob Rhee

With five players battling to become Michigan’s quarterback, I decided that now is a perfect time to start scouting the options. I narrowed things down to the three dudes that have a real chance of starting a game this year; Alex Orji, Jack Tuttle, and Jadyn Davis. One of these guys is going to lead their team into Columbus in 115 days, and I need to know what my Buckeyes are dealing with. This is what I learned.

Alex Orji

We’ll begin with Orji, who has long seemed like the front-runner to land this job. I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered a quarterback with a wider margin between their ceiling and floor as a player. That is not a hyperbole. I have no idea what to do with this dude.

Some of Orji’s high school stuff legitimately made my jaw hit the floor. On the first play of his senior highlight film, he gets rocked by an unblocked linebacker and drops a deep ball in the bucket without stepping into the throw. Moments later, he flicks his wrist and completes a pass that travels 60 yards in the air despite having a defender in his grill. Orji’s clips as a runner are even more breathtaking. It’s an unbelievable reel.

But then I started to look a little bit closer at this guy’s stats and information. He apparently threw for 3,467 in two years as a high school starter, which is… not a lot. Then you realize that Orji was a just a three-star recruit, and the 50th ranked quarterback in the 2022 class. We know the athletic ability is ridiculous, so that can’t be the issue. It kind of seems like those bombs on film were his lone bright moments as a passer.

It’s not fair, however, to label Orji as an incapable thrower without some more evidence. Let’s take a glance at his college career, and… oh. He has 21 rushing attempts and one pass. Keep in mind that Michigan won 10 games by 25+ points in 2023; there were plenty of opportunities to let the kid launch a few in garbage time, and it didn’t happen. Jim Harbaugh even said last year that he was considering using Orji to return kicks. If a quarterback’s high school and college coach both seem to be searching for ways to avoid letting them throw the ball, that cannot be a good sign.

Orji’s pure talent absolutely scares me, but his usage as a passer should be rather alarming to Wolverines fans. We’ll see if he can piece it together, but I suspect that he’s not ready at all.

Jack Tuttle

Tuttle is bad. Sorry. I would love to provide a detailed breakdown for you, but there’s no need. He’s heading into his seventh college season, and he’s still not good at football.

If Tuttle emerges victorious from this QB competition, I honestly think it’s safe to say that there’s some sort of blackmail at play. Let’s move on.

Jadyn Davis

I watched some interviews to get a feel for Davis’s personality, and he impressed me right away with his maturity. He seems like a really bright and respectful kid that Michigan fans will adore.

I thought the high school tape was rather odd, though. First of all, the throwing motion is really weird; Davis has this elongated, sidearm delivery. He’s on the smaller end at 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, but is not particularly athletic or slippery. The arm talent isn’t special, and he actually misses a lot of throws that he shouldn’t. I just walked away wondering why he was such a highly-regarded prospect.

Of course, the winning helps. Davis transferred to Providence Day in North Carolina for his last two seasons, and won the state title in both campaigns. That’s obviously impressive stuff against good competition, but I would argue that the feat is a bit misleading. Providence Day also won the state championship the year before Davis showed up, with a quarterback who ultimately went to East Carolina and never attempted a pass there; in essence, Davis joined a loaded roster that made him look better.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Davis turns into a solid college quarterback, but he’ll never go to New York for the Heisman ceremony. At the moment, he’s surprisingly raw for a kid that started in all four seasons of his high school career. Davis may be the future at Michigan, but he is not the present.

After doing my research, I can’t believe that the Wolverines didn’t grab a bridge quarterback in the portal. None of these three guys are prepared to lead a legitimate national title contender. To me, this puts even more pressure - if that’s even possible - on Ohio State. If the Buckeyes can’t beat this Michigan team in Columbus, I will be at a complete loss.

No excuses.

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“Waiting for a Star to Fall” by Boy Meets Girl. Enjoy.