Michigan football: Betting odds nearly even on starting quarterback
By Zac Snyder
Wilton Speight returns at quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines this season, but betting odds give Brandon Peters almost as good of a chance to start.
The Michigan football team returns their starting quarterback from last season, but that doesn’t mean Wilton Speight is guaranteed the spot. According to betting odds from BookMaker.eu, Speight is the favorite to retain his position as the starting quarterback but Brandon Peters is not far behind.
"Michigan Wolverines starting quarterback Week 1 of 2017-18 NCAA Football regular seasonWilton Speight -105Brandon Peters +107John O’Korn +1600"
Those odds were backed up by Jim Harbaugh’s comments at Big Ten media day on Tuesday. According to Harbaugh, Speight and Peters are joined by John O’Korn in a three-way battle to be named the Wolverines’ starting quarterback for the 2017 season. If Harbaugh is leaning in any particular direction right now, he gave no such indication.
Harbaugh: "Wilton's in a good spot. He's tied for first with John O'Korn and Brandon Peters."
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) July 25, 2017
Harbaugh says it was a "dead heat" between all of those guys in spring.
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) July 25, 2017
Harbaugh: "We're going to throw the balls out there and let the fellas compete."
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) July 25, 2017
Harbaugh: "It'll take anywhere from 8 to 15 practices to figure out (who the starting QB will be)."
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) July 25, 2017
For those looking to make some money on the bet, Speight remains the smart play as the incumbent. The key is that all that matters in the bet is who gets the start week one. Being a high-profile matchup against the Florida Gators on a neutral field, going with the experience of Speight makes a ton of sense.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Peters get some playing time – perhaps even during the course of the opener as part of a rotation with Speight – but again, all that matters for the bet to pay is who takes that first snap.
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Peters has the better overall skill set and was a Harbaugh recruit, but Harbaugh chose Speight as his starter a year ago. Perhaps there will be rumblings of a changing of the guard as fall camp progresses, but we may not know who starts at quarterback until the offense takes the field for their first possession against the Gators.