Reasons Why Alan Bowman will Start for Michigan

Michigan will take the field against Western Michigan in 99 days but no one knows who will be quarterbacking the Wolverines on that day. Redshirt sophomore Cade McNamara, true freshman JJ McCarthy and incoming graduate transfer Alan Bowman are expected to battle it out for the right to start. All three have talent and all three probably think they can be the guy. It's going to come down to who moves the chains, who takes care of the ball and who gains the trust of the rest of the team. Here's why it'll be Bowman...

1. Experience

As he prepares for his fourth year, Bowman is the old guard in Michigan's quarterback room. He's got 16 starts under his belt, which is 15 more than McNamara and obviously 16 more than the true freshman McCarthy. He's also thrown for more than 5,000 yards and 33 touchdowns compared to McNamara's 425 and 5. Experience is very important for a quarterback and Bowman has a lot more than any other signal caller on U-M's roster.

2. Confidence

Because of that experience, Bowman is a confident player. He was a starter as a true freshman and has played a lot of football in college. He knows what he's good at and what he's not so good at, he understands how to handle big moments and stages and he knows that he can make plays at this level because he's actually done it over the course of more than a season. McNamara and McCarthy simply aren't in that head space. They're certainly confident players in their own right, but there's nothing like confidence that stems from actual experiences.

3. Ability/Mentality

There's no guessing with or for Bowman. He's played, he's had some success and he's put up some big numbers. He's shown over the course of 16 starts that he's a capable, Power 5 quarterback. He's a plus athlete, has a live arm and makes plays outside the pocket by using his feet and throwing from different platforms. He's also quite accurate. 

Bowman also thinks he's the guy. I don't know exactly what he was told by Jim Harbaugh, and I don't think anything has been promised to Bowman at all, but he didn't pick Michigan so he could hold a clipboard. However those conversations went, Bowman feels good about winning the job. If he didn't think he was going to be the starter, he would've went elsewhere. Plenty of programs would've welcomed an established graduate transfer quarterback with multiple years of eligibility left. 

Looking at Bowman as the potential starter is interesting because his ability and mentality help create the confidence, and all of it stems from his experience. I think when you mix all of that up, he's the player to beat.