Michigan doesn’t have a quarterback controversy; Bryce Underwood is locked in as Michigan’s starter. However, there’s a good competition brewing between true freshman Tommy Carr and Colorado State transfer Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi.
Carr had a great offseason of practices and was a standout in Michigan’s spring game. Fowler-Nicolosi arrived at Michigan this summer and has had to get acclimated to Michigan’s offensive scheme quickly.
Michigan offensive coordinator Jason Beck told the media on Thursday
that Carr had a clear advantage the first three to six practices, but things have changed of late.
“Within the last week, he’s totally settled down and really closed the gap,” Beck said. “As you’d expect, he’s kind of been there, does a lot of really good things and has a lot of experience. And so he’s really closed that gap of those two kind of going back and forth. So, this whole week, they’ve just been splitting all the two reps and just kind of battling it out. And we’ll see where it goes. Like I said, just closed it, kind of competing like crazy. We’ll have to make a decision here at some point going forward, but really like the progress he’s made. Tommy’s been getting better and doing a nice job. It’s just Brayden’s kind of caught up with everything settling in and just playing football now.”
Beck pointed out that Carr and Fowler-Nicolosi have different attributes.
“Tommy’s a little more mobile, a little more threat in the run game to pull and take off. Has a great sense of extending plays and doing things kind of impromptu. Where Brayden has a pretty big-time arm and when he makes his decision, gets the foot in the ground, that ball’s coming out. He throws it really well, really accurate, and does a nice job that way.”
Fowler-Nicolosi catching up to Carr in the competition shouldn’t come as a major surprise with all the experience he brings with him from Colorado State. Fowler-Nicolosi made 28 starts for CSU and led the Mountain West in total offense in 2023 with 3,433 yards. He’s thrown for 6,938 career passing yards, 38 touchdowns, 29 interceptions, a 60.2% completion rate and six rushing touchdowns.
Carr could very well wind up being Michigan’s backup, but he’ll have to make sure that Fowler-Nicolosi doesn’t close the gap in the competition any further than he already has. No matter who comes out on top, the competition between the two should only push both players in a positive direction.
