It appears inevitable that former Ole Miss sophomore quarterback Shea Patterson will announce his commitment to Michigan during his visit to Ann Arbor this weekend, so we reached out to someone that’s seen plenty of Patterson on the field — Oxford Eagle Ole Miss beat writer Davis Potter. We got his take on Patterson, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Van Jefferson and sophomore safety Deontay Anderson, who are both also on campus this weekend.
“Shea obviously has a lot of natural talent, very quick release, very accurate and mobility is a big part of his game,” Potter said. “People around the SEC have compared his game to Johnny Manziel and he has some of that flair to him I think.”
This season, the former five-star and top ranked quarterback recruit completed 63.8 percentage of his passes for 2,259 yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
“He’s not a big rah-rah guy, not somebody that’s going to say a whole lot, he really leads by example and with his play,” Potter said. “I think with the respect that he demands in the huddle, I think a lot of his teammates respond to that. He’s a player that once he gets on the field plays with emotion and wears that emotion on his sleeve.”
Patterson has the ability to run, but Potter said for the most part he only scrambles when the play breaks down. Ole Miss did not run a lot of designed runs, but thinks Patterson could do that if the offense required it. He can get outside, however, except when he does escape the pocket, oftentimes he is looking to throw the ball down the field. Keeping his eyes downfield is one of his strengths.
Potter called him a true pocket passer.
“I don’t know if I’d go all the way with the full extent of that comparison, because Johnny Manziel just did things that made your jaw drop,” Potter said. “Shea has some of those traits. He’s got an innate ability to feel the pressure around him, get out of the pocket and extend the play.”
That ability could come in handy behind a questionable Michigan offensive line.
He has a tendency to try to do too much, which results in the occasional interception, sack or unnecessary hit.
“Something he’s probably going to work on is trying to not feel like he needs to make a play all the time,” Potter said. “I wouldn’t call his arm strength elite, but it’s good enough to make most if not all the throws.”
Patterson played in three games his freshman year, filling in for an injured Chad Kelly. He then played in seven games this season as the starter before tearing his PCL in late October against LSU. While Ole Miss fans may have been upset about the coaching staff burning his redshirt, Patterson said he wanted to do whatever the team needed.
“You’re still talking about a guy that is still relatively inexperienced at the quarterback position at this level,” Potter said. “I think once he gets some more coaching, once he sees some more looks, I think all that stuff will work itself out.”
Potter said he hasn’t seen enough of Anderson to make a fair assessment, but did say he wonders if he’d be a better fit at linebacker because of his size (6-foot-1, 221-pounds).
“He’s a bigger safety that might actually be a better fit a linebacker,” Potter said. “He has some size to him that might work better at the second-level.”
Anderson had 32 tackles and an interception his freshman season before redshirting voluntarily this year.
Jefferson has 91 catches for 991 yards and four touchdowns in two seasons of action, with his stats split relatively even between his freshman and sophomore campaigns.
“Jefferson is a very cerebral player and is the best route runner on Ole Miss’s team,” Potter said. “He’s the son of Miami Dolphins wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson, so he grew up around that.”
He called Jefferson very savvy and that he’s like a technician at his position. He is not the fastest or quicket guy, but played mostly in the slot.
“He’s probably got some of the best hands on the team too,” Potter said. “If you throw him the ball he’s going to catch it. He’s very reliable in that sense.”
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