Bryce Underwood, Wolverine

 

Belleville (MI) Belleville QB Bryce Underwood (image via Yahoo!)

Belleville (MI) Belleville quarterback Bryce Underwood flipped from LSU to Michigan on Thursday night. He picked the Wolverines over . . . everyone.

Underwood is listed at 6'3" and 205 pounds. As a junior he completed 179/276 passes (64.8%) for 3,329 yards, 44 touchdowns, and just 3 interceptions. Altogether, he has been responsible for over 165 touchdowns as a four-year starter at quarterback for the Tigers.

RANKINGS
ESPN: 5-star, 93 grade, #1 QB, #1 overall
On3: 5-star, 99 grade, #1 QB, #1 overall
Rivals: 5-star, 6.1 grade, #2 QB, #2 overall
247 Sports: 5-star, 99 grade, #1 QB, #1 overall

Hit the jump for more.

Underwood's recruitment to Michigan was a topsy-turvy one, obviously. The Wolverines under Jim Harbaugh had a testy relationship with Belleville, and for a while, Belleville was largely un-recruit-able. Despite turning into a metro Detroit powerhouse over the past few years - taking over that mantle from the likes of Cass Tech - the players from Belleville were choosing Michigan State, Kentucky, etc. over staying close to home in Ann Arbor. Ace recruit Sherrone Moore was put on the case and started to repair things when he was an assistant, but that wasn't enough to seal the deal with anyone. Meanwhile, Underwood himself had strong interest in Michigan all along, but his childhood favorite team LSU came calling and had a recent history of producing superstar quarterbacks like Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels.

While Michigan's offense has been extremely shaky this season, LSU has not performed particularly well, either, and people in Baton Rouge aren't super fond of head coach Brian Kelly at this point. As most Michigan fans have heard, the NIL component of Michigan's recruiting has kicked in recently, too, allowing the Wolverines to leverage that end of their campaign, too. I won't get into speculating what type of NIL deal Underwood might be getting, but it appears to be pretty significant. It also seems to help that former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions called offensive plays for the Tigers late in the season, and fellow Belleville product Elijah Dotson is Ann Arbor-bound, too.

As for Underwood's play on the field, he has a ton of playing experience as a four-year starter at the high school level. Some recruiting analysts have pointed out that a lot of the star quarterbacks in college these days have a ton of passing reps from their high school days (side note: current Michigan starter and former walk-on Davis Warren had very few reps, comparatively). I'll jump right to my comparison here, which I usually reserve for later in the scouting report, but Underwood reminds me a lot of former Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner. Gardner was listed at 6'4" and 216 pounds at Michigan; Underwood is listed in some places at 6'3.5" and "pushing 215 pounds," according to Allen Trieu. Gardner was thinner as a recruit, and I think Underwood will end up playing at 225 pounds or so in college.

Aside from size, I think the comparison extends to their play on the field. Both are tall and lanky with slightly unconventional throwing motions. Gardner had kind of a whip for an arm, rather than a compact delivery, and he was capable of making most of the necessary throws. Gardner was hampered by playing for Rich Rodriguez and then spending some time at receiver while Denard Robinson played quarterback, but I don't think Underwood will face that same fate; Underwood will probably be a QB throughout his career, and I'm not sure he's quite on Gardner's level as an all-around athlete.

Anyway, Underwood has a powerful arm; he can throw moon shots, and he has the arm strength to throw far-hash out routes. He has the capability to get the ball out quickly on screens, and I think he generally has good ball placement on in-breaking routes. He's a good runner and I think he runs behind his pads a little better than Gardner did; Underwood runs a bit like a running back, while Gardner ran more like a receiver.

The mechanics for Underwood can be a little bit inconsistent. I don't think he always gets himself lined up with his target, and he sometimes counts on his arm a little too much. There are also times where he drops his arm slot unnecessarily; it's a good thing to be able to throw from different angles when necessary, but sometimes that will get balls batted down or intercepted. There might be some early-career growing pains where defensive linemen get their hands on some passes before he cleans up that aspect of his game.

Overall, I think Underwood has the capability to be an excellent college player. He would instantly be #1 on Michigan's depth chart, in my opinion; that may change if they bring in a transfer portal player, but he's probably better than Warren and Alex Orji right now. I don't think Underwood will immediately walk in and be a superstar because of some of those issues with mechanics, but he might be worth putting on the field from day one. His saving grace is that he offers a rushing element, so Michigan could actually run some zone reads and other designed quarterback runs, unlocking the offense a little bit even if the passing game isn't up to par.

I have in the past been critical of Belleville products, so I'm a little bit gun-shy here. Ever since Belleville produced the likes of Ian Gold, Cullen Jenkins, and Kris Jenkins in the late 1990s, a lot of "star" players have gone through Belleville and there have been a lot of recruiting duds; even top-100 players like Julian Barnett and Devontae Dobbs, both in the 2019 recruiting class, went to Michigan State, transferred, and saw their careers fizzle. They have produced some minor successes like Kaevon Merriweather, a lightly recruited player who became a star for Iowa and is now in the NFL, but generally, Belleville players have not hit at a high rate in college. So I am slightly skeptical but hopeful for Underwood.

Along with Dotson, Underwood would be the first Belleville product to sign with Michigan in the last 28 years other than the late Andre Seldon, a 2020 signee who would go on to transfer to New Mexico State and Utah State before tragically drowning this past summer. If the current recruiting rankings hold with Underwood as the #1 overall player, he would be tied with Rashan Gary for the top signee in modern Michigan recruiting history.

As we speed toward National Signing Day in early December, rumors are swirling that Michigan could also flip Las Vegas (NV) Bishop Gorman WR Derek Meadows and Denton (TX) Ryan OT Ty Haywood, who are committed to LSU and Alabama, respectively. On the flip side, Michigan lost the commitment of QB Carter Smith as they ramped up their efforts with Underwood; they have also lost DL Jaylen Williams and S Ivan Taylor in recent days, though those losses aren't related to Underwood.

At this point, the #1 question might be about who will be coordinating Michigan's offense in 2025. First-year coordinator Kirk Campbell has not developed any of this year's quarterbacks very well, and it would be a tough sell to expect the offensive staff to remain status quo going into next season. I think I like Campbell more than some Michigan fans, but even I can admit that he has not adapted the offense well to his personnel this season. I might actually be okay with Campbell being relegated to a role as QB coach like he was in 2023, but that's unlikely; it's more likely that he will be coaching elsewhere in 2025 and Michigan will hire a new coordinator.

TTB Rating: 89