Alex Orji is the presumed starter at quarterback for the Michigan football team this upcoming season, but he will be pushed by an entire room of contenders for the keys to new coordinator Kirk Campbell’s offensive engine.
Orji, graduate student Jack Tuttle, junior Warren Davis, sophomore Jayden Denegal and freshman Jadyn Davis all have a chance of winning the job, with Orji the likely favorite.
Last season, Orji showed off his rushing skills, playing meaningful snaps in big games ranging from the Ohio State game to the Rose Bowl vs. Alabama and the National Championship Game vs. Washington.
Orji finished with 86 yards on the ground and one touchdown for the Maize and Blue, but did not throw or complete a pass.
Earlier this week, Orji spoke with reporter Isaiah Hole at the Will Johnson Sound Mind, Sound Body Camp in Detroit, sharing insight on his mindset heading into summer and toward fall camp, his thoughts on potentially winning the starting QB job, and the “Those Who Stay Will Be Champions” mindset that has been instilled in Ann Arbor both prior to and since he arrived on campus.
The 6-foot-3, 236 pound quarterback was famously compared to Jalen Milroe, Alabama football’s SEC championship winning quarterback, last season by former Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, and now has lofty expectations to live up to this season.
According to Orji, everything centers around winning in Ann Arbor. While the starting quarterback position would be a great honor for the Sachse, TX native, he is ready to support whoever becomes the starter next season, even if it isn’t him.
“The weight that the Block M holds and the winged helmet, it’s like, we that know we’ve got to protect the football, we know we’ve got to assert dominance and you know we’ve got to emphasize execution and tie everything together,” Orji said about the offense’s focus.
When asked about a potential timeline for Coach Campbell and Coach Sherrone Moore to name a starting quarterback, Orji turned the focus back to ‘The Team.’
“It (doesn’t) matter to me, I want to know whatever it takes to win all our ballgames,” Orji said. “If I’m not the starter going into week one I want to know whatever I can do to help the team,” he said.
“And if helping the team is me being the starter, then I want to work to do that,” he said, adding that he could foresee a scenario where Michigan has a different starter from Week 1 to Week 2 similar to 2022 when Cade McNamara and JJ McCarthy started a game each in respective weeks.
Orji added that he would ‘love’ to be the starter, saying that it would be a ‘great’ opportunity.
The full interview can be seen below in the player from Isiah Hole’s WolverinesWire YouTube channel: