There’s still a very long way until the 2026 college football season, with the previous season having wrapped up less than a month ago. Teams are now in winter conditioning, rosters are essentially set, and eyes are starting to turn not only to spring ball next month, but the season as a whole.
And with that, some outlets are putting out their ‘too-early’ lists.
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Among them is ESPN, which revealed its too-early All-America team for the 2026 season. And one Michigan football player made the cut.
It might be a bit of an uphill battle, but John Henry Daley — the transfer from Utah — is recovering from a ruptured Achilles that ended his 2025 season. Even so, ESPN is so bought into his abilities that it listed him as one of the defensive linemen on the list.
Edge: John Henry Daley, Michigan
Daley had 11.5 sacks, 17.5 tackles for loss and 48 tackles as a sophomore at Utah in 2025. He transferred to Michigan to continue playing for new Wolverines coach Kyle Whittingham. Daley suffered a lower-leg injury in a 51-47 win against Kansas State on Nov. 22. He said on social media he’d be back in six months.
Given Michigan’s lack of experience in the front seven (though Enow Etta and Trey Pierce return on the inside, as does Utah transfer Jonah Lea’ea), having Daley perform at such a level would be a huge boost to a defense that’s more backloaded than frontloaded.
Even so, with Daley recovering from such a significant injury, there are no guarantees that he will come in and perform at the same level as he had while in Salt Lake City. But if he can be near that level, that would be big for a Michigan defense that has a ton of question marks.
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This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan football: John Henry Daley on ESPN’s 2026 All-America team
