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The Michigan transfer is expected to have a big impact this season.
Michigan redshirt junior quarterback John O’Korn has been ranked No. 7 among the Top 30 quarterback transfers for the 2016 season by Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports. The signal callers were ranked by “expected impact.” O’Korn transferred from Houston in February of 2015 and ran the scout team for the Maize and Blue last season.
“Jim Harbaugh had a lot of success with a transfer quarterback (Jake Rudock) last season,” Lassan writes. “Could the same formula work once again for the Wolverines in 2016? O’Korn had a promising start to his career at Houston, throwing for 3,117 yards and 28 scores in 2013. However, O’Korn struggled in 2014 and was benched in favor of Greg Ward after tossing eight interceptions through the first five games.
“The Florida native should benefit from a change of scenery and the opportunity to work under Harbaugh.”
O’Korn will continue in a heated battle with redshirt sophomore Wilton Speight for the starting quarterback job. Even redshirt senior Shane Morris is spending more time with the first unit, so he could be a possibility under center as well.
“It’s to be determined still,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said to Max Cohen of the Detroit Free Press. “It means a lot to all of them. You can tell the way they play, just continuing to be able to play loose but play smart, continue to get repetition, continue to get looks, learn. That’s what they need to see right now.”
The top spot on the list was claimed by Davis Webb (California), then Kenny Hill (TCU), Trevor Knight (Texas A&M), Dakota Prukop (Oregon), Luke Del Rio (Florida) and Mike White (WKU) at the sixth slot. The last quarterback on the list is Zach Kline at No. 30. Zach Allen, who transferred from TCU to Rutgers, is at No. 16 as the only other Big Ten Conference quarterback on the list.