Michigan Wolverines quarterback Cade McNamara got his feet wet last year playing in a few games, but it’s nothing like what he’ll face this year. The redshirt freshman is QB1, having earned the starting job heading into camp, and while he’ll be pushed, he’s upped his game to the point that he’s fully expected to start the opener against Western Michigan.

Freshman J.J. McCarthy and transfer Alan Bowman will push him, but McNamara has had an outstanding summer progressing as a player and a leader.

“Once spring ball was over, I was able to really evaluate and see what things I wanted to get better at … I’ve been working on some things mechanically, working with the wide receivers a lot and all the positions,” he told Jon Jansen on his recent In The Trenches podcast. “I think as a team, we’ve done a great job of our workouts, too. I think we’re really prepared.

“First off, evaluating film … even throws that were good or balls that were complete, some things don’t feel right. I want to make sure those are right. I’m going over it with my coaches, Coach [Jim] Harbaugh, [Matt] Weiss and [Josh] Gattis.”

After spring ball ended, he worked with quarterbacks coach Jordan Palmer on his mechanics, employing the same biometric tests Weiss said the Baltimore Ravens used when he was with them last year. McNamara received plenty of data on his motion and body movement while being surrounded by cameras and a console that calibrates to all part of his body.

Exercise movements are connected to a console that advise him how to tweak his movements to ensure he’s doing everything right while also preventing injury.

“From there, we’re able to see exactly where my hips are going, where my upper body rotation is, the amount of degrees I’m rotating. That was the basis of it,” McNamara said. “I like my motion. I like my accuracy. It was just more about some things, simple things I had to clean up.

“I felt good that I had something good to focus on this offseason, because I feel like I have a good grasp of the offense. Our understanding of what we want to do to defenses … it gave me something to work on. I’m always trying to work on something, and it finally like gave me something to chase every single day.”

And he did, along with his teammates. His game experience gave him a clear perspective on what they do in practice and how they’re doing things — how that correlates to the game and what will work on game day, he said — and he’s translated it to the field. He’s been working out a lot with all his receivers on timing, etc., and they’ve made great progress.

“Where does Mike [Sainristil] want the ball in this part of the field. Where does he want me to put it if he’s running an out route?” he continued. “I feel like the amount of work we’ve put in has been able for me to get that information. Just that extra depth of work and understanding of the offense helps us get comfortable, not just with the offense, but with each other … just the amount of chemistry we’ve built over the last two years. As situations we continue to go through together, through practice and repetition, it becomes easier.”

Last year’s 2-4 record has motivated them, he added, but they don’t dwell on it. They understand they have a script to change, and they’ve taken steps to do exactly that.

“We don’t ignore the fact that it happened. We don’t ignore the feeling it felt … we don’t ignore what really led us to that position … but we took that upon ourselves as players, as leaders of the team to do that. We as a team, the full team … everyone on the roster was able to make it out multiple times during the week ever since spring ball, which is huge.

“The level of focus that has occurred doing those meetings has been high — the highest it’s ever been since I’ve been a player here during those player led practices. For me, that’s been such a good sign for us … we recognize we had a good spring. For us not to get complacent and continue to work hard and get better as a group is nothing but good as we go into camp.”

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