The Remarkable Story of Davis Warren

Wolverine QB candidate is a cancer survivor with a big arm and high hopes

Photo Courtesy of University of Michigan Photography

Davis Warren knows how to move in and out of the passing pocket. He credits “subtle pocket movement” as an important improvement in his play.

By Steve Kornacki

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Davis Warren had a great spring football game. He threw the game’s only two touchdown passes, leading the Maize to a 17-7 win over the Blue Saturday at Michigan Stadium.

The senior walk-on is competing to replace quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who led the Wolverines to the national championship three months ago and is expected to be among the first dozen picks of the NFL Draft Thursday night.

Warren completed 6-of-9 passes for 136 yards with those two scores and zero interceptions in the annual intrasquad scrimmage. Alex Orji, perhaps the favorite for the job, completed 13-of-18 for 103 yards but none reached the end zone. He did run for an 18-yard TD, though.

Starting positions, however, aren’t determined solely by spring game stats. And Warren knows that all too well. He threw for 175 yards – more than all the other quarterbacks combined – in the 2022 game. Warren completed 5-of-9 for 89 yards in mop-up time that season, and last year threw five passes without a completion.

Warren said, “Knowing that whatever happened last year, the year before, whatever – I can be the guy for this team.”

Don’t ever count out Warren.

He battled through acute myeloid leukemia in 2019 and chemo treatments only to get healthy and lose his senior season of high school at Suffield Academy in Connecticut in 2020 to the COVID shutdown. Warren played three seasons as a backup at Loyola High in Los Angeles before transferring twice and eventually settling on Suffield.

Warren could’ve played at smaller colleges, but a conversation and walk-on offer from then Wolverine coach Jim Harbaugh led him to Ann Arbor – where the quarterback room is always overflowing with talent.

His greatest impact to this point has been as a scout team quarterback in practices and as an influential teammate.

Orji said of Warren: “I mean, you saw Davis’ deep ball today [a 42-yard TD to Kendrick Bell]. He’s the guru of all things QB mechanics and awesome to talk to.”

Warren threw that pass with perfect touch and timing, dropping it into Bell’s arms for the go-ahead score. It traveled 55 yards in the air to the back of the end zone and was the play of the game. You should know that Bell’s brother, receiver Ronnie Bell, went from Michigan to the San Francisco 49ers last year.

“I knew we wanted to call a shot,” said Warren of the play. “We talked about it all week. Kendrick’s a really good player, and he’s a guy following in his brother’s footsteps.”

Bell added, “The ball was right in my lap. He improves every day. He throws the ball amazing. The ball was in the air for a pretty long time, and I knew I had time to run underneath it. I knew I didn’t have to jump for it. So, it was beautiful ball.”

Warren has the arm to make such plays happen.

“I worked on that,” Warren said. “I take a lot of pride in my arm and my ability to throw the ball. I think one of my greatest strengths is physically.”

He also connected on a 48-yard TD pass to Fredrick Moore, who caught the short laser of a pass down the middle and ran 43 yards with it.

“Me and Davis Warren have been practicing all week,” said Moore. “We practiced our rhythm, and he just told me to be ready.”

Bell was impressed with Warren getting that pass away.

“I mean, he even rolled out to the right and threw to his left for Fred on the touchdown,” said Bell. “That was beautiful.”

Warren’s 35-yarder to tight end Deakon Tonielli and sharp pass for 10 yards to top tight end Colston Loveland were on time. His pre-snap recognition was evident on those completions.

When asked at Monday’s press conference whether he’d made a decision on the starting quarterback, first-year head coach Sherrone Moore said, “Everybody’s getting better, So, we’ll see this fall.”

Freshman blue-chip recruit Jadyn Davis, junior Jayden Denegal and graduate student Jack Tuttle also are in the running.

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kirk Campbell said of naming a starter: “You’d ideally like to do it before the first game of the season. But when we’re ready to make that decision, we’ll make that decision. I think all of them have done good things.”

Moore said he’s stressing growth and improvement and not stressing over his starting lineup four months prior to the Aug. 31 season opener at home with Fresno State.

Warren certainly has made strides this spring.

I asked him where he’d made the most improvement, and he credited McCarthy and Campbell for a key development.

“Just being able to operate in the pocket,” said Warren. “Subtle pocket movements. That’s something me and Coach Campbell work on every day. Subtle pocket movements – seeing J.J. develop and everything he did over the last two years to get better, I was along there for the ride, and got to see it first hand.

“So, learning a lot from him. And subtle pocket movements is being able to buy that extra half-second to make a play. I think that showed up a couple times today, and that was nice. Obviously, going against the best D-line in the country, you’ve got to be able to maneuver the pocket and still find throwing windows. And we’ve got to make the most of them. I hope to do it again in the fall.”

The anticipation and “hope” Warren is feeling comes through loud and clear in his comments.

He was asked about how the work he put in this spring showed in the scrimmage before some 30,000 at Michigan Stadium.

“I think staying calm,” Warren said. “I knew what was coming. I feel I had a good feel for what they were going to do defensively. Seeing things, and the game felt slow out there. That’s always a good feeling as a quarterback, and you feel you’re out there, and everything feels in slow motion around you, and you can just feel confident and calm out there.

“That comes with work, and it didn’t just happen overnight. But, I feel like I’m at the point now where I’m at in my career here where that comfort – I’ve worked to reach that point – and reaching that point has made playing quarterback a lot of fun all the time. Just trying to do that every single day, and be cool, calm and collected, and just operate in the system with our playmakers.”

He's finally getting a chance to show what he’s capable of while at full strength.

“Every time we get an opportunity to come to the Big House,” said Warren, “it’s an incredible opportunity. I think, for me personally, last year didn’t go exactly how I wanted to, getting injured and stuff like that. I played a fair amount my sophomore year, and the spring game’s always been important for me.

“For me, I get the opportunity to suit up and play. It’s obviously just another practice, but it does have an elevated importance. We can show what we’ve been working on and what we’ve been doing in Shem [Schembechler Hall]. So, it means a lot to me to be able to come out here and make the most of the opportunity that I have, and it just comes from a place of gratitude. I’m grateful to be out on the field an making the most of whatever I have.”

Teammates are impressed with what Warren does and all he’s overcome – with everything from blood cancer to limited playing time.

“I was impressed,” said Bell. “We all know he has it. It was just a matter of him getting out there and throwing, and he did that today. The chemistry is growing and growing and growing. So, we’ve got to continue to thrive.”