A year ago I was very critical of Shea Patterson. What I didn’t realize is that at Michigan, there were a number of factors beyond his control that would help him tremendously.

Michigan had perhaps the best offensive line in the Big Ten. That alone can mitigate a ton of issues offensively. For example, that punishing unit paved the way for a robust ground game. Michigan was able to trust their run game to win them games. Shea Patterson had some tremendous wide receivers to work with. When you take a guy as talented as he is and surround him with guys that are good at what they do, it takes a ton of pressure off. Patterson didn’t have to be the focal point of the offense. All he needed to do was manage the offense and use his talent as a supplement to a well-oiled machine. He filled that role spectacularly.

But for Real, Lets Talk.

Now let’s talk about Shea Patterson the Heisman contender. 2018 was a nice season for Michigan. 2019 is the year that Patterson, and maybe Michigan, takes a big step forward. Although Michigan is at their best when they can rely on their ground attack to wear teams out, having a QB that can break games wide open is a huge asset.

He’ll have more responsibility under new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis. Michigan seems to be committing to a philosophy in which they’ll up the tempo and spread the ball around a little more. That’s bad news for the rest of the Big Ten.

The Wolverines have a ton of talent to work with offensively. Patterson’s primary duty will be distributing the ball to those players. Not only does he do a good job of playing point guard, he delivers a terrific deep ball. In short, he can make all the throws. Michigan will give him more of an opportunity to do just that.

I imagine he’ll be asked to run the ball more often as well, which is a good thing. Not only is he athletic, he’s comfortable in the read option. That opens up the RPO. With a QB as smart as Patterson, he could really flourish.

He’s definitely one of the three best quarterbacks in the Big Ten along with Nebraska’s Adrian Martinez and Nate Stanley of Iowa. I think he’ll separate himself from the pack this year on his way to some serious national recognition, especially if Michigan can finally beat Ohio State and make it to Indianapolis for the first time.