Michigan football has its next starting quarterback and his name is Davis Warren.

Warren, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound senior beat out junior Alex Orji and seventh-year graduate Jack Tuttle in a competition that began in spring practice, ran through the summer and ramped up during fall camp when then competition got down to just two, Orji and Warren.

In the end it was Warren, a former walk-on who rose up the depth chart to earn the trust of coaches and teammates alike to earn the starting role. His numbers aren't the prettiest; last season, he was 0-for-5 passing with an interception. Across his career, he's just 5-for-14 for 89 yards and the turnover. However, he's apparently done the primary things offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell has asked: Deliver the ball on time and on target and prove to be a leader in the huddle.

LIVE UPDATES: Michigan football vs. Fresno State: Live score, highlights from season opener

In some regards, the decision is a surprise as he beat out Orji, a 6-3 and 235-pound athletic specimen who has proven to be effective at times in games. Last season, he had a career long 20-yard run vs. Ohio State as well as a 13-yard effort in the national championship game and during this offseason was ranked No. 13 on The Athletic's "Freaks List", the highest rated quarterback in the country.

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Orji figures to have a role in some packages. Indeed, he subbed in during the Wolverines' first drive on Saturday night and threw a touchdown pass to running back Donovan Edwards. The pass was Orji's second completion as a Wolverine, after throwing a 5-yarder during the 2022 season.

But despite the upside he brought, it's Warren, a leukemia survivor in high school, who has now won the second biggest battle of his life.

“To know Davis Warren, if you know him on a personal level and what he’s been through, that kid’s a fighter,” Moore said this week. “So you knew it was not just gonna be given to anybody, so they had to go earn it. And he’s earned the opportunity to compete for it, and that’s what he’s been doing.”

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X @RealTonyGarcia. He's a co-host on "Hail Yes!" your go-to Wolverines podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan picks Davis Warren as starting QB for opener vs. Fresno State