Rich Rodriguez raised some eyebrows at media day Sunday when he said he planned to play three quarterbacks in Michigan's season opener against Western Michigan.

But ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, a former Ohio State quarterback, said Rodriguez has no other choice considering the Wolverines' inexperience at the position.

True freshmen Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson are battling for the starting job, with junior Nick Sheridan also in the mix.

"I think the only way coaches today, without any preseason games, you have to give them a chance to play in front of 100,000 people, especially when they have limited reps, to see how they perform," Herbstreit said in a teleconference Tuesday. "They might be 10 times better than what they’ve shown during two-a-days, they might get nervous and not know how to react. But until you give them that chance, it’s unfair to really make a decision."

Herbstreit said he expects Rodriguez to settle on a starter, probably Forcier, by Week 2 against Notre Dame.

"My thought is although Robinson seems to be getting a ton of hype in the last week with the whole 'Shoelace' comments and he's a 4.3 40, I wonder, just from what I've been reading, does he have enough of a high school background where he can come in in front of 100,000 people and make checks, do what he needs to do and know the offense well enough?" Herbstreit said. "The Forcier kid came in in the spring. Even though that's not a ton of a head start, it's enough when you're talking about true freshmen. And my guess is that Forcier will emerge and become the guy because of his ability and knowledge of the offense, and his ability to run and throw."

Fellow ESPN analyst and former Lions general manager Matt Millen said he doesn't have a problem with Rodriguez playing multiple quarterbacks, either.

"This is a good way for Rich to be able to get reps for all three guys," Millen said. "But I will tell you this: If Rich knew, right now, that he had one, he’d have one, he wouldn’t have three. So he’s still in the process of finding out which guy is going to be the real deal."