2025 Spring Football Preview: Wide Receiver

 

Donaven McCulley

RETURNING PLAYERS: Peyton O'Leary (RS Sr.), Joe Taylor (RS Sr.), Amorion Walker (Sr.), Logan Forbes (RS Jr.), Fredrick Moore (Jr.), Semaj Morgan (Jr.), Kendrick Bell (RS So.), Channing Goodwin (RS Fr.), I'Marion Stewart (RS Fr.)
NEWCOMERS: Donaven McCulley (RS Sr.), Anthony Simpson (RS Sr.), Andrew Marsh (Fr.), Jamar Browder (Fr.)
DEPARTURES: C.J. Charleston (graduation), Tyler Morris (transfer to Indiana)

OUTLOOK: Michigan's receivers did not have a banner year in 2024. Part of it may be a chicken-or-egg situation with the poor quarterback play: no receiver was going to have a great year with Davis Warren and Alex Orji throwing the ball, and not many quarterbacks were going to have great passing numbers throwing to what Michigan put out there at receiver. Tight end Colston Loveland led Michigan's team in receptions (56), yards (548), and touchdowns (5). By comparison, the leading wideouts in each category were Semaj Morgan (27 catches), Tyler Morris (248 yards), and Morris again (2 touchdowns).

Morris headed for the greener pastures of, uh, Bloomington, Indiana, this off-season, so it's a pretty complete overhaul of the receiving group. Morgan is back, but he had a measly 139 yards and a paltry 5.2 yards per catch. That's not an indictment of Morgan's talent, but Michigan's overall inability to push the ball downfield, set up screens appropriately, and generally call an offense. I have more faith in new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey than the departed Kirk Campbell, so I expect Morgan to benefit significantly. But he has yet to prove that he can be a downfield threat.

The prize of Michigan's transfer efforts at receiver is Indiana transfer Donaven McCulley, a 6'5", 203 lb. possession guy who caught 48 passes for 644 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2023. While he doesn't have a ton of downfield speed, he's the type of big target with experience that Michigan lacked out wide in 2024. He can probably be penciled in as a starter this fall.

Other unknowns include the quick Fredrick Moore (11 catches, 148 yards, 1 TD in 2024), former walk-on and possession guy Peyton O'Leary (10 catches, 102 yards, 1 TD), former quarterback Kendrick Bell (7 catches, 70 yards), and reed-thin speedster Amorion Walker (3 catches, 34 yards). The most intriguing of those is Walker, who is 6'3" and 182 lbs. Once penciled in as a starting cornerback by Jim Harbaugh - and briefly at Ole Miss in the spring of 2024 - he spent last year at receiver. If corners don't get a hand on him, he can run real fast; if corners do get a hand on him, he can fall down real fast.

One of Lindsey's tasks will be to figure out which veteran receiver can play a good-sized role in the offense and provide some help for some limited quarterbacks: QB Mikey Keene is limited by his stature, and QB Bryce Underwood is limited by his inexperience. But another task will be to figure out what roles can be played by freshman Andrew Marsh, incoming UMass transfer Anthony Simpson, and freshman Jamar Browder. Marsh comes in with some questions about his overall speed, but he reportedly finds a way to make things happen. Simpson is a bit of a screen and gadget guy, but he could be fun to watch. And Browder is a 6'3" guy with some upside, but he's probably somebody who needs to bake in the oven for at least a season.

Overall, Michigan has an array of pieces. While last season was similar at receiver to the 2023-2024 Michigan basketball team that got Juwan Howard fired because he couldn't construct a roster, this year could be closer to the 2024-2025 Dusty May version of the basketball team: a well constructed squad probably lacking championship potential.

2025 Spring Football Preview: Offensive Line

 

RETURNING PLAYERS: Greg Crippen (RS Sr.), Giovanni El-Hadi (RS Sr.), Connor Jones (RS Jr.), Brooks Bahr (RS So.), Nathan Efobi (RS So.), Evan Link (RS So.), Blake Frazier (RS Fr.), Jake Guarnera (RS Fr.), Luke Hamilton (RS Fr.), Ben Roebuck (RS Fr.), Andrew Sprague (RS Fr.)
NEWCOMERS: Lawrence Hattar (RS Sr.), Brady Norton (RS So.), Andrew Babalola (Fr.), Kaden Strayhorn (Fr.)
DEPARTURES: Raheem Anderson (transfer to Western Michigan), Tristan Bounds (transfer to Arizona), Andrew Gentry (transfer to BYU), Dominick Giudice (transfer to Missouri), Myles Hinton (NFL Draft), Jeffrey Persi (transfer to Pitt), Josh Priebe (NFL Draft)

OUTLOOK: Michigan really struggled up front in 2024, the first year under new offensive line coach Grant Newsome. They did seem to make some progress late in the year, but it was too late to salvage anything but a couple surprise victories against Ohio State and Alabama. The top performer up front was Myles Hinton, a mammoth Stanford transfer. Transfer left guard Josh Priebe struggled at times, and from the center to the right tackle was a travesty for much of the year. Greg Crippen and Dominick Giudice played hot potato with the reins of the center position for the entire year, Giovanni El-Hadi performed disappointingly at right guard, and redshirt freshman Evan Link posted multiple PFF grades of 0.0 in pass protection.

There has been a lot of turnover on the offensive line, with seven players either moving on to the NFL (Hinton, Priebe) or transferring. Giudice, Andrew Gentry, and Jeffrey Persi all had significant starting or playing experience, and all three decided to play elsewhere, leaving somewhat of a void in the remaining offensive line.

The bowl game against Alabama featured Link at left tackle and freshman Andrew Sprague at right tackle, and that may be the configuration we see to begin the spring. Link looked more comfortable on the left side, and Sprague showed some promise at right tackle, especially from an attitude perspective. Add in an off-season of strength and conditioning, and Sprague should be ready to roll.

As for new faces for 2025, Ferris State transfer Lawrence Hattar could possibly be penciled in to start at guard; he's a fifth year player with lots of starting experience at the Division II level. Andrew Babalola is a 5-star prospect who's big enough and athletic enough to compete for playing time at one of the tackle positions. Junior college transfer Brady Norton has potential down the road, but he's probably a developmental guy at this point.

A couple other players who have been rumored to be in contention for playing time are redshirt junior Connor Jones and redshirt sophomore Nathan Efobi. Redshirt freshman Blake Frazier has been mentioned as having potential if he can get/stay healthy, and redshirt freshman Ben Roebuck had college-ready size when he arrived in 2024. All of those players are huge question marks since we haven't really seen them on the field except during spring games.

Overall, the offensive line is a group with a lot of individual talent, but very little cohesion from playing together. Center Greg Crippen and offensive guard Giovanni El-Hadi have spent lots of time together as two fifth year seniors, but the rest of the players are either young or new to the system. It's probably a pipe dream to hope for a return to the Joe Moore Award-level play we saw in 2021 and 2022, but it's going to be very disappointing if Michigan can't perform better in the trenches than they did in 2024.

2026 Recruiting Update: March 6, 2025

 

Justice Fitzpatrick (image via On3)

COMMITMENT

White (GA) Cass offensive guard Bear McWhorter committed to Michigan (LINK).

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2026

Owings Mills (MD) McDonogh linebacker Nick Abrams II (4-star, #19 LB, #223 overall) was offered by Michigan. He's a 6'2", 215 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, and Penn State, among others.

Durham (NC) C.E. Jordan defensive tackle Noah Clark (4-star, #30 DL, #254 overall) was offered by Michigan. He has official visits set up for Duke, North Carolina State, South Carolina, Virginia, and Virginia Tech, so Michigan has some work to do here if they want to catch up. He made 75 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks as a junior in 2024 and looks like a future nose tackle for someone.

Hit the jump for more.

Bear McWhorter, Wolverine

 

White (GA) Cass OG Bear McWhorter with Sherrone Moore (image via Rivals)

White (GA) Cass offensive guard Bear McWhorter, a 2026 prospect, committed to Michigan on Friday. The former Arkansas commit also had offers from Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and numerous others.

McWhorter is listed at 6'3.5" and 295 lbs. on 247 Sports.

RANKINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 81 grade, #5 IOL, #175 overall
On3: 3-star, 88 grade, #43 IOL
Rivals: 4-star, 5.8 grade, #11 IOL
247 Sports: 3-star, 85 grade, #87 IOL

Hit the jump for more.

2025 NFL Combine Results

 

Donovan Edwards (image via Detroit News)

Michigan had nine players compete at (or at least show up to) the 2025 NFL combine. Here are the results for the participants:

RB Donovan Edwards

• 5'11", 205 lbs.
• 30" arms, 10" hands
• 4.44 forty-yard dash
• 38.5" vertical
• 23 bench press reps

DT Mason Graham

• 6'3 1/2", 296 lbs.
• 32" arms, 9 1/8" hands
• 24 bench press reps

DT Kenneth Grant

• 6'4", 331 lbs.
• 33 1/2" arms, 10 1/8" hands
• 22 bench press reps

OT Myles Hinton

• 6'7", 323 lbs.
• 34 1/8" arms, 10 1/4" hands
• 31.5" vertical jump
• 4.96-second 20-yard shuttle

CB Will Johnson

• 6'2", 194 lbs.
• 30 1/8" arms, 9 1/4" hands

TE Colston Loveland

• 6'6", 248 lbs.
• 32 3/4" arms, 10" hands

RB Kalel Mullings

• 6'1 1/2", 226 lbs.
• 31 3/4" arms, 10" hands

DE Josaiah Stewart

• 6'1", 249 lbs.
• 31 7/8" arms, 9 1/2" hands

LS William Wagner

• No measurements publicly available

I was hoping to see more players participate in drills, but the growing trend is for players to wait for their pro days (or not work out at all). It would have been fun to see Kenneth Grant run the 40-yard dash and for Will Johnson to do a variety of drills, etc., but alas, we're left to wonder.

Michigan did have running back Donovan Edwards test, and his results were pretty outstanding:

Donovan Edwards is a RB prospect in the 2025 draft class. He scored an unofficial 9.60 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 78 out of 1909 RB from 1987 to 2025.

Splits projected, times unofficial. https://t.co/0sQaB4ddis pic.twitter.com/sgBAkoNoMR

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 1, 2025

2025 Spring Football Preview: Tight End

 

Marlin Klein (image via 247 Sports)

RETURNING PLAYERS: Max Bredeson (RS Sr.), Marlin Klein (RS Jr.), Jalen Hoffman (RS So.), Zack Marshall (RS So.), Deakon Tonielli (RS So.), Hogan Hansen (So.), Brady Prieskorn (RS Fr.)
NEWCOMERS: Eli Owens (Fr.)
DEPARTURES: Colston Loveland (NFL draft)

OUTLOOK: Michigan had one of the best tight ends in college football in 2024 in the form of Colston Loveland, who should be a first round draft pick in April. Loveland was by far Michigan's leading receiver (56 catches, 582 yards, 5 touchdowns) despite playing in a subpar passing game, and his numbers were significantly hurt by the fact that the quarterbacks couldn't get him the ball when he was open downfield.

Marlin Klein caught the fifth most passes on the team in 2024 and filled in for Loveland. Klein isn't nearly the fluid athlete that Loveland was and doesn't have as natural of receiving abilities, but he's a 6'6", 247 lb. player with good straight-line speed and decent blocking ability. He caught 13 passes for 108 yards and 0 touchdowns a season ago.

The other huge returning contributor is 6'2", 240 lb. Max Bredeson, who plays a fullback/H-back role. Bredeson caught just 3 passes for 24 yards, but he's a devastating blocker who sets the physical tone on offense. New offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey may have to adjust some of his schemes to incorporate a heavy dose of Bredeson. I think Lindsey is pretty flexible as a coach, but he seems less inclined to use multiple tight ends as frequently as Jim Harbaugh-type offenses did.

Rising sophomore Hogan Hansen came out of nowhere to catch 7 passes for 78 yards and 1 touchdown in 2024 while playing in ten games. It's not clear exactly what type of role he'll play since his body (6'5", 236) and skills haven't really developed yet, but what is clear is that the coaching staff likes him and he will probably see a heavier role in 2025.

Walk-on Hoffman is Bredeson's backup, and both Marshall and Tonielli are going into their third years without playing much. Prieskorn was hurt toward the end of the season, and my guess is he will not participate fully in spring ball. The lone freshman in the class is Eli Owens, who was listed at 6'1" and 243 lbs. coming out of high school before enrolling early. He has mentioned how much he wants to fill the role of Bredeson down the road, so he may end up battling Hoffman for playing time this spring after enrolling early.

Overall, Michigan has a solid group of tight ends, but no real stars in the receiving game. Bredeson may prove to be the best of the bunch because of his blocking ability, but there's still some intriguing potential with Klein's athleticism, Hansen's early flashes, etc. One to watch may be Tonielli, who got some buzz last spring but never got an opportunity on Saturdays. It should be a good overall unit, but the crew overall is a bit of an unknown.