Meet Michigan's 2008 Quarterbacks: Steven Threet and Justin Feagin (If No Terrelle Pryor)

While Terrelle Pryor looks like a remote possibility for Michigan, coach Rich Rodriguez is already preparing to go into 2008 with two players who have never taken a snap in a college game as potential starters. While both are young (Threet is a redshirt freshman while Feagin will be a true freshman), both bring different talents to the table that should eventually work in Rodriguez's system.

Start with Threet, the home-state kid who transferred from Georgia Tech. Threet was a 4-star prospect from Adrian, Michigan who like many prospects decided the warm weather of the south was too enticing to pass up. Threet got homesick and wanted to go to a good academic school considering his high ACT scores and GPA, and Michigan seemed like the best fit because they needed a backup behind Ryan Mallett at the least.

Threet ran a spread-option in high school and is more athletic than most 6'6 QB's, but he is not fast enough to run the kind of spread Rodriguez ideally wants to run full-time. He reportedly has looked impressive in practice since transferring to UM and he has a strong arm and good footwork in the pocket. But he's never thrown a pass in college.

Feagin hasn't thrown one either but he has an advantage that Threet doesn't: he's a very good runner. Feagin comes from Florida where he was the state's 2nd runner-up for top player in the state, but he wasn't recruited by a ton of colleges. Most teams wanted him to play safety and didn't think he could play quarterback. But in Rodriguez's system that he ran at West Virginia, a good running QB can take over right away and produce. There is not nearly as much reading of defenses that has to occur for a running QB. Remember that Pat White came in and produced big-time at West Virginia as a true freshman and that he wasn't an elite prospect either. Feagin is a 3-star according to most services but there's no doubt he is a good runner for a QB. He may have been undervalued due to a reported 4.6 40-time, however he does have great elusiveness, vision, and moves as a runner as well as the physique to take some hits.

Teams have a history of taking guys with a chip on their shoulder who weren't looked at as a QB by other schools and making them into stars. A good example is with the Indiana Hoosiers, who took a short, speedy player named Kellen Lewis from Florida and gave him a shot to play QB when no one else would. He has proven to be a dangerous two-way threat and one of the Big Ten's best QB's. Feagin could follow a similar path.

Overall, expect Michigan to start out with Threet as the starter this season, but Feagin should also come in as a change-of-pace player much like Florida did in 2007 with Tim Tebow as the runner and Chris Leak as the thrower. It should work okay because Michigan has a stable of great running backs like Sam McGuffie and Michael Shaw coming in as well as potential star receivers coming up like Junior Hemingway and Toney Clemons. Check out Clemons and McGuffie's profiles here.

Regardless of what happens on offense, the Wolverines will probably have a good enough defense to stay in the league title hunt for most of the year. Once they get their offense sorted out for 2008, they could really be a contender. Feagin and Threet aren't Terrelle Pryor, but combined, they should be good enough to help UM stay near the top of the Big Ten.