Jeff Fisher, Michigan Panthers select former Big Ten star with No. 1 pick in USFL Draft

Former Michigan Wolverines quarterback Shea Patterson is back in the professional ranks, as he was selected on Tuesday with the first-overall pick in the inaugural USFL Draft by the Michigan Panthers.

FIRST OVERALL 🙌🐾

The Panthers select QB @SheaPatterson_1 with the No. 1 pick in the #USFLDraft pic.twitter.com/7Rm8W7BDWc

— Michigan Panthers (@USFLPanthers) February 23, 2022

The Michigan Panthers are one of eight teams in the second rendition of the USFL, set to kick off this spring. The Panthers are led by former NFL coach Jeff Fisher, who served as both the head coach and general manager. The first round of the USFL Draft was designated as the quarterback round; after Patterson’s selection, other quarterbacks taken in the first round included Jordan Ta’amu (Ole Miss), Bryan Scott (Occidental College), Ben Holmes (Tarleton State), Clayton Thorson (Northwestern), Alex McGough (Florida International), Kyle Lauletta (Richmond) and Kyle Sloter (Northern Colorado).

Patterson spent two seasons with Ole Miss in college, before transferring to Michigan for his final two seasons of college ball. Following the conclusion of his college career, the two-time third-team All-Big Ten selection went undrafted in the 2020 NFL Draft and moved on to a short-lived career in the Canadian Football League. Patterson signed with the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad in 2020, but was ultimately cut; he was signed to a practice squad contract with the BC Lions of the CFL in 2021 but was not promoted to the active roster. In 2021, however, Patterson played for the Montreal Allouettes of the CFL.

A native off Bradenton, FL, Patterson prepped at IMG Academy, where he turned into a five-star recruit, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. With his five-star status, Patterson was ranked the No. 1 quarterback in the 2016 recruiting class, as well as the No. 2 overall recruit in the state of Florida. He signed with Ole Miss out of high school.

After then-starting quarterback Chad Kelly tore his ACL, Patterson — who was originally going to redshirt his freshman year at Ole Miss — became the Rebels’ starting quarterback. He finished the season with a 54.5 completion percentage in three games started, throwing for 880 passing yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions. At the start of the 2017 season at Ole Miss, Patterson was set to start as a sophomore. He did, and he began turning heads through the first two weeks, throwing for a combined 918 yards and nine touchdowns in his first two games of the season. However, the season took a turn; Hugh Freeze was later forced to resign following NCAA violations, and Patterson went down with a knee injury on Oct. 21. He finished with a 63.8 completion rate in seven starts, along with 2,259 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Patterson then transferred to Michigan, where he shined in two years as the Wolverines’ starting quarterback, making it to the All-Big Ten third team in both seasons. He threw for a total of 5,661 yards across two seasons on a 60.1 completion rate, as well as 45 passing touchdowns to just 15 interceptions.