Michigan will take the field for padded practices tomorrow or Thursday, per Jim Harbaugh, at which point he’ll find out much more about his team. He and offensive line coach Ed Warinner spoke at length about the offense recently … we break down their comments here.

Harbaugh on the quarterback battle between Joe Milton and Cade McNamara: "I think one of the big things is they're very talented. Both guys are really competitive and smart, and they want to play. That's very exciting. Put a talented guy out there and see how it goes.

"We were watching them practice the other day, and it's going really well. The leadership — we've had a lot of guys step up in leadership capacities, but definitely Joe Milton has done that. Cade is a little bit younger, but he's doing that, as well. I really like what we're seeing … we’ll put a talented guy out there and see how it goes."

Analysis: In other words, “we won’t know how it goes until we see them live,” and that means beyond padded practice — it’s about doing it on Main Street, not just State Street.

This is Milton’s job, and he’s earned the right to go into the season as the No. 1 guy. The disappointing aspect is that Dylan McCaffrey won’t be there to battle with him after waiting his turn for four years.

At the same time, there’s a reason an inconsistent Shea Patterson was the starter the last two years. Most of the praise for McCaffrey came early in his career when he was on the scout team, and that was more about his willingness to put in the time and the effort to prepare and give the defense a great look. There was no indication he was destined to be the “next Michigan great.”

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