Before Michigan football fans go off the deep end, Shea Patterson is still the returning starting quarterback. But, competition is a good thing. Enter four-star QB and early enrollee Cade McNamara who is drawing attention in the weight room.

While Michigan football is in the midst of offseason workouts, the word is Cade McNamara has looked good. Really good. McNamara is throwing crisp passes as well as doing workouts.

McNamara, a two-time Gatorade player of the year in Nevada came to Michigan football as a highly touted quarterback and he would like to impress early and then prove it on the field.

It seems as if Patterson has taken some notice to Cade who is one of five quarterbacks on the Michigan roster. They seem to be growing close as they go through the offseason conditioning. There is an underlying competition between the two, which will do nothing but help the position overall.

Jim Harbaugh said during his weekly podcast that “He’s a very confident youngster because he works his butt off at all times. He’s here throwing every single day. He was here Sunday morning, throwing at 9 a.m. If there’s somebody to throw with, he throws with them. Or he throws in the nets.”

It is that kind of drive that Harbaugh has wanted to see out of his quarterbacks. He now has at least one newcomer who is doing just that. With Brandon Peters and Dylan McCaffrey already in line to battle for the 2019 backup spot, Cade McNamara will have to fight. He will need to continue the work he is currently putting in.

Again, competition is a great motivator. Just because a player has a star rating does not tell the whole story. The whole story becomes clearer during the offseason — during camp battles. That is where jobs are won and lost. The will to show up and throw a football on a Sunday morning is a solid look at what type of athlete McNamara is.

The rest is about to become more clear as spring camp is in a few weeks, followed by the spring game. A lot can happen between now and then. But, it is encouraging that a young player is trying to rub elbows with the perceived starting quarterback.