I hate to pretend that I can put myself in a college athlete’s shoes, but for the sake of this argument, let’s take a crack at that.

In this scenario, I’m Shea Patterson. I just completed a 10-2 regular season in which I showed my potential as a passer down the stretch, but I ultimately didn’t achieve my ultimate goal of winning a B1G Championship and playing for a national title. People raved about certain performances I had in key games (Penn State and Wisconsin) and they bashed me about how ineffective I was in other headliner matchups (Notre Dame and Ohio State).

So now, I’m faced with a decision. I already decided to play in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. They had me at “free Chick-fil-A gift cards.”

But more important for my long-term future, I have to decide what to do about staying at Michigan another year or heading off to the NFL. What to do, what to do.

OK, I’m no longer Patterson. I’m back to being the outsider who’s trying to tell a kid what he should do with his life.

On second thought, I’ll punt on that. Instead, I’ll just make the pros and cons list for Patterson, and show exactly why this is one of the more difficult NFL decisions I’ve seen in recent memory:

Why he should go

Patterson did just spend an entire season in an offense in which he used a lot of pro-style concepts. He played — and played well — in multiple systems including the one he ran at Ole Miss. Someone with his type of mobility and downfield ability will turn heads at the next level.

And while numbers aren’t everything — Patterson’s numbers weren’t like Dwayne Haskins’ — they were still impressive. He had a 21-5 touchdown-interception ratio and he completed 65 percent of his passes for 8.2 yards per attempt. Nothing about that screams “he’s not ready.”

Patterson did look like a better player than he was at Ole Miss. His decision-making running the run-pass option was improved, and he developed a nice connection with Michigan receivers when plays broke down. Any draft video of Patterson will feature several instances of him doing just that.

Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

There’s also the fact that the narrative about this year’s quarterback class would work in Patterson’s favor. Outside of Justin Herbert — and not everyone is sold on him — the plug-and-play quarterbacks aren’t there. At least that’s how they’re being evaluated early in this process. Compare that to next year when Patterson could have to deal with the likes of Tua Tagovailoa and Jake Fromm, both of whom are already bigger household names and look more NFL-ready.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Patterson took a look at that and decided this was his time to make the jump.

Why he should stay

Because my own personal entertainment is on the line. Duh.

But really, there’s a clear argument to be made for Patterson to come back another year. He’s still someone who has struggled facing pressure against better. If he leaves now, that’ll be a major knock on him.

If Patterson did sign up for one more year in Jim Harbaugh’s system, the game plan would be built more around him than it was in 2018. One would have to think that Michigan would have a more pass-heavy team after losing Karan Higdon in the ground game while returning Patterson’s go-to targets of Donovan Peoples-Jones and Nico Collins. That trio could do some serious damage together.

That’s the other appeal for Patterson. If he comes back, he’s the guy. He gets to experience an offseason of high expectations — and not the questions surrounding his immediate eligibility or his status as the starter — wherein he gets to be the face of the program and maybe even the conference (along with Rondale Moore and Jonathan Taylor).

I don’t know how much that matters to Patterson, if at all. That could be the last thing on his mind. The most attractive thing about returning might just be that he feels like the Ohio State game left a bad taste in his mouth and he wants to end his college career on a different note.

I do know that Patterson would benefit in plenty of on-field ways with another year in college. He could improve with reading coverages and handling pressure.

Another year of comfortability playing against B1G opponents would probably bump those numbers, too.

Besides, the preseason hype of Patterson in all the mock drafts definitely took a hit as the season went on. It wasn’t that Patterson played poorly, but I think the NFL-readiness was at least questioned at times throughout 2018.

Starting to see the dilemma yet?

So…what do I think happens?

If I was a betting man, I’d say Patterson leaves. That’s purely speculation, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he stayed. You only get to experience college once, and doing so at a program like Michigan for 1 more year might be too enticing.

Then again, the dream of playing in the NFL was partially why Patterson transferred to Michigan in the first place. Getting to learn from guys like Harbaugh and Pep Hamilton was part of the appeal.

If Patterson feels like he’s soaked up their teachings and he’s ready to prove himself at the next level, it makes sense for him to go. But if he feels like he only scratched the surface of his potential and he has more developing to do, coming back will be the move. Ultimately, Patterson is in a win-win scenario here.

For Michigan fans, however, Patterson’s decision could sway the entire offseason outlook heading into 2019. Lose Patterson, Higdon and all that defensive talent, suddenly there will be more questions than answers heading into Harbaugh’s fifth season.

For now, though, Patterson’s NFL decision is the biggest question in Ann Arbor.