Generally, when a team is 5-5 entering the 11th game of the season, the fan base isn’t exactly ecstatic about the trajectory of their favorite team. However, for Michigan football, such was the case going into Week 13 of the 2024 season.
That’s because the Wolverines managed to flip No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Underwood from LSU, and suddenly the future was bright. Little did they know that upset victories over Ohio State and Alabama would be forthcoming after that blowout win against Northwestern.
But how bright could the future be? Michigan had its fair share of problems? On3 analyst J.D. PicKell thinks that with Underwood at the helm, he could uplift the Wolverines back to college football’s elite after just one year off. And in doing so, PicKell says that he could see Underwood winning some kind of All-Big Ten type of honor come year’s end.
“I think the best case scenario is that he’s a guy that ends up being an all-conference type of quarterback for you,” PicKell said. “You ought to be real — I don’t think that’s that much of a stretch. I don’t. Look across the conference, outside of Drew Allar — and I think if you’re watching this video and you watched Drew Allar last year, you probably have some reservations around Penn State as a whole with the dude throwing the football with no Tyler Warren. I digress.
“Who’s the bona fide, just, dude in that conference? Luke Altmyer at Illinois? Maybe, we’ll see. I love Dante Moore at Oregon. I love Julian Sayin at Ohio State, which is probably a negative thing to say in this video, but that’s just how I feel about it, we’ll stand on business there. Jayden Maiava at USC? I thought he looked really good the second half of that bowl game. There’s a lot of potential but there’s also a lot of unknowns across this conference. Fernando Mendoza at Indiana. You see where I’m going with this?
“So, to me, the door is wide open for a team like Michigan, for a guy like Bryce Underwood, to hit the ground running the second you’re under Sherrone Moore, with a new offense, with a good portal class, with the traits that make Michigan Michigan to really make some noise here in 2025. So I don’t think it’s wild here to assume that Bryce Underwood can be in that all-conference conversation.”
Michigan’s defense did have some struggles early but showed in the latter half of the season that defensive coordinator Wink Martindale figured some things out. And even in the bowl game, without Mason Graham, Josaiah Stewart, and Kenneth Grant, the Wolverines clamped down on the Crimson Tide — thus giving hope for that side of the ball.
Thus, the questions mostly come on offense, where Michigan was a shell of what it had been from 2021-23. With Underwood, running backs Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall, and potentially a revamped offensive line, should the Wolverines manage to also find some receivers who can step up beyond their previous production, the sky really could be the limit.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Why Michigan football QB Bryce Underwood could break out freshman year
