This spring, the Michigan Wolverines are looking for their next QB1 with the hopes of keeping the maize and blue at a championship-winning level.
Two guys who have gotten the most attention so far this offseason are Alex Orji and Jayden Denegal. We’ve already covered what Orji could bring to the table, so it’s time to focus on Denegal, the redshirt sophomore who is catching the eye of his new offensive coordinator early this spring.
The Apple Valley, California native came with Orji in the 2022 class. Orji was the dual-threat option and athlete, but Denegal has always been more of a pocket passer. He threw for more than 4,600 passing yards and 69 touchdowns in high school, and also completed 69.1 percent of his passes his senior season. Those accolades earned him a three-star ranking by 247Sports as the No. 19 quarterback in the class.
After redshirting his first season, while making a quick appearance in the 2022 win over UConn, Denegal saw a bit more action in 2023. However, it didn’t come in the second game of the season in a blowout win over UNLV, and head coach Jim Harbaugh was not happy that Davis Warren saw playing time before Denegal.
“The one we’re still evaluating is the backup quarterback and we made a mistake. Coach (Mike) Hart put in Davis Warren ahead of Denegal,” Harbaugh said after the game. “We really need to see Jayden Denegal and Alex Orji in this week (against Bowling Green) … but we really need to find out what we have in Jayden (Denegal) and Alex (Orji).”
The next opportunity Denegal would have was two weeks later in Michigan’s win over Nebraska. He was the third quarterback to see the field after Tuttle had a possession in the third quarter. Denegal led the Wolverines on a 10-play, 50-yard drive where he ran for 10 yards and threw his first career touchdown to Peyton O’Leary:
