CHICAGO -- Yes, there's going to be a quarterback battle at Michigan this fall.

Yes, the position is still undecided.

Yes, Jim Harbaugh's excited about it.

"Wilton (Speight's) in a good spot. He comes in really tied for first with John O'Korn and Brandon Peters, legitimately, through competition," Harbaugh said Tuesday during his appearance at Big Ten media days in Chicago. "Throughout all the spring, we went through 15 practices and it was a dead heat.

"But the good news is they all did some things that really -- Brandon really shot up. John O'Korn really played consistently good. And Wilton really had some impressive moments as well."

Conventional thought around college football circles is that this is Speight's job to lose. Though Harbaugh made it clear multiple times Tuesday: It's everyone's job to win.

Speight was, of course, Michigan's starting quarterback a year ago -- surpassing most initial expectations by throwing for 2,538 yards, 18 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.

Jim Harbaugh at Big Ten media days Posted by Michigan Wolverines on MLive.com on Tuesday, July 25, 2017

He did have his moments of struggle, however. Speight was just 11 of 26 for 103 yards and an interception in a one-point loss at Iowa. He also made costly errors in narrow losses against Ohio State and Florida State. And, during spring ball, Speight did have a few issues -- at times -- with his accuracy.

Still, he's the most experienced and most vocal quarterback on the team. He's a leader, teammates trust and respect him and he did rattle off a nine-game winning streak to begin the year.

A competition is a competition, though. And Harbaugh says both Peters -- a redshirt freshman -- and O'Korn -- a fifth-year senior -- have earned that right.

"We'll go through training camp starting on Monday, just throw the balls out there and let the fellows compete," he said. "There's a lot a quarterback can do over the summer to get better at playing quarterback. It's one of those positions, like a kicker. A quarterback can just go out there and throw balls on the net, can work on their drops.

"You want to see what's transpired over the summer and see who has gotten better. And then who gives our team the best chance to move the ball, score touchdowns and put points on the board, not turn the ball over, and probably take about anywhere from eight to 15 practices to figure that out. Historically that's what it usually takes. But we're looking forward to it."

Peters, at this point, is the most interesting case in this scenario.

He's never started a college football game, he's never taken a live college snap.

Still, Michigan's coaching staff was mostly wowed by his increased level of play this spring. The staff believes his arm talent is mostly off the charts, and now it's a matter of getting him to be more vocal and take more ownership of the offense.

If those things happen, this could get very interesting.

"He's elevated his game, Brandon Peters has really elevated his game," Harbaugh says. "I've always noticed a really good arm talent ability from Brandon. A natural thrower of the football. But he's elevated his game on a competitive level. He does have a personality that's very quiet.

"(As a quarterback) you need to take charge. Be loud. That doesn't come as natural to him. I just say 'take charge. Be loud, it's really easy. Ahhhhh, Blue 80! Blue 80!' That's the easiest thing about being a quarterback, to me. So it's 'just be louder, Brandon. Please.' "