John Wienke to Stay with Michigan; Other Recruiting Notes

By Sean · Monday, July 16, 2007 · 1:28 AM |  Share | 2 Comments 

Prior to last week, Steven Threet and ’08 QB recruit John Wienke didn’t have too much in common other than they both were quarterbacks. That changed drastically on Thursday, however, when Threet packed his bags at Georgia Tech and decided to transfer to Michigan. With that, both Threet and Wienke now share the common characteristic that they will be quarterbacks at the University of Michigan.

Adding Threet to the depth chart in 2008 (has to redshirt this season since he transferred) creates two different competitions depending on who you ask. In reality, Threet will likely compete with Wienke for the job to backup Ryan Mallett. If you asked the pair of QB’s, they would say they are competing for the starting job with Mallett, although that isn’t likely the case, but then again, you never know.

Anyways, looking at the depth chart for future years, Michigan really is set at quarterback now. In 2008 and 2009, there’s Mallett. In 2010, well, it depends on how successful Mallett is in his previous two seasons. If he was good enough, then Mallett could opt to leave for the NFL, but if he stays at Michigan for all four years, then 2010 is set as well. By the time the 2011 season rolls around, Threet will have one year of eligibility left, meaning he could be the starter. John Wienke would have two years left at that point, assuming he redshirts in ’08, so he would be next in line to start come 2012. Obviously, this is all based on the way things are right now. Variables will come in to play that could shake things up, such as an injury. Heck, that’s how Chad Henne ended up starting as a true freshman.

By mapping things out, you can see that John Wienke’s road to starting got harder with the arrival of Steven Threet. That led to speculation that he could end up reconsidering things and backing out of his commitment with Michigan. Mind you, none of this speculation was based on anything at all, but with the way recruiting is these days, that would be the most likely scenario in most cases. Luckily for U-M, Wienke isn’t going anywhere.

“It’s not too much of a big deal to me,” Wienke said Saturday. “He’s a year older than me. I talked to (U-M) coach (Scot) Loeffler, and I think it’s just one more quarterback to compete with. I know what I have to do.”

Wienke could redshirt during his first season to put each quarterback in a different year of eligibility.

Either way, it’s clear that given its track record of producing NFL quarterbacks and Loeffler’s strong reputation nationally, Michigan is quickly overflowing with quarterback riches.

That’s definitely great news. Wienke’s head is in the right place, and that’s something I look forward to seeing in the post-Henne or post-Mallett years. Competition is a good thing in cases like this, and we will get to see that down the road.

Getting back to current-day recruiting news, keep a close eye on Michigan’s list of commitments. If things go right for the Maize and Blue this week, that list should expand. By how much exactly? No one is really sure at this point.

First, let’s address Sam McGuffie’s status. Plans are for him to announce on July 22 (this coming Sunday) on the same show that saw Darryl Stonum picking Michigan earlier this month. There have been a lot of rumors floating around lately regarding him showing interest in Texas A&M, and for the most part, those appear to be nothing more than just simply rumors. The general opinion is that he’ll end up going the same route as Stonum, but for some confirmation of that, I present you with a post made on a free board over at GBW by a writer from TexasPrepInsider.com.

Having talked with Sam a couple of times, I know he is taking the chase in stride. He’s not pressured by the attention and is having fun with it. There is no real reason for concern as to why he pushed it back. One reason was that the state 7 on 7 tourney was held over the weekend….from all accounts, it does look like come late next Sunday night, McGuffie will be officially a Wolverine, which would make me 2 for 2 when it comes to calling out Texas recruits.

Sounds good to me, I’m not too worried.

Shifting my attention to a recruit that does worry me in terms of what his decision will be is Toledo TE/DE Kevin Koger. Koger visited both Michigan and Ohio State last week and will probably end up choosing between the two schools sometime soon. Many Buckeyes thought Koger was theirs prior to the visit to Michigan on Thursday, but now Koger appears to be stuck in the middle. I believe he was a U-M fan growing up, so hopefully that will be the little extra push needed to propel him to Ann Arbor. Stay tuned.