2025 Season Countdown: #26 Damon Payne

 

Damon Payne (image via Chloe Miller/MLive)

Name: Damon Payne
Height: 6'4”
Weight: 311 lbs.
High school: Belleville (MI) Belleville
Position: Nose tackle
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #44
Last year: Payne was a starting defensive tackle at Alabama. He made 14 tackles for loss and 1 sack.
TTB Rating: N/A

Payne was a 5-star, the #7 defensive lineman, and #24 overall in the class of 2021. Instead of signing with Michigan - during a team when Belleville-Michigan relations were strained - he ended up signing with Nick Saban's Alabama. He went down to Tuscaloosa and, you know, didn't do a whole lot. Altogether, he made 30 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and 0.5 sacks during four years. Known as a good run stopper, he didn't offer much when it comes to penetrating the backfield or chasing plays down.

Michigan snagged Payne in the transfer portal, and he returns close to home to play in front of friends and family. The Wolverines have a ton of depth at defensive tackle this season, depth that includes at least six players who are "playable" in: Payne, Rayshaun Benny, Tre Williams, Trey Pierce, Ike Iwunnah, and Enow Etta. I see Payne as a third starter on the inside, along with Benny and Williams. Williams has more explosiveness, while Payne seems like more of a space eater who is going to be very difficult to run against. Add in the fact that Michigan can roll six-deep on the interior, and these guys should be very good as they stay fresh throughout the game and throughout the season. I don't expect Payne to break out when it comes to putting up big numbers, but he should be a part of a very good defensive line.

Prediction: Part-time starting nose tackle

2025 Season Countdown: #27 Mikey Keene

 

Mikey Keene (image via On3)

Name: Mikey Keene
Height: 5'11”
Weight: 200 lbs.
High school: Chandler (AZ) Chandler
Position: Quarterback
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #7
Last year: Keene was the starting quarterback at Fresno State. He completed 277/393 passes (70.5%) for 2,892 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.
TTB Rating: N/A

Sherrone Moore is like Galactus, and floating through space and time, he decided to send out the Silver Surfer - in this case, Chip Lindsey - to scout resources to consume to make himself better. The Silver Surfer zeroed in on Mikey Keene from Fresno State, and here we are:

With one of the most highly touted recruits in history, Galactus - I mean, Sherrone Moore - was never going to be able to bring in a high-profile player who wanted to play right now because Bryce Underwood is waiting in the wings to play, probably sooner rather than later. So Moore and Lindsey had to look a rung down for a guy who might want a step up in competition but had already sort of maxed himself out in a lower conference.

Keene has been a starter at two different schools, UCF and Fresno State. Overall, he has amassed 8245 passing yards, 65 passing touchdowns, and 28 interceptions, while completing 67.8% of his passes. He's an accurate thrower who's obviously limited when it comes to size, strength, and athleticism. But he's a veteran who has played 39 games and could be a perfect mentor for Underwood, pushing him and offering advice while also understanding he stepped into a situation where he's not going to be expected to be the savior of a program.

I expect Underwood to be the starting quarterback by the end of the season, if not the beginning. However, backup quarterbacks play an important role. It's rare to see a quarterback go through a season completely unscathed, if only for a half of a game or a game here or there. Keene transferred to Michigan over the winter but was unable to participate in spring practices because of an injury. However, he was available for meetings and re-learning some of the things that Lindsey taught him back when they were together at UCF. As long as Keene stays healthy for the year, he should provide a nice safety net for the team.

Prediction: Backup quarterback

2025 Season Countdown: #28 Semaj Morgan

 

Semaj Morgan (image via USA Today)

Name: Semaj Morgan
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 174 lbs.
High school: West Bloomfield (MI) West Bloomfield
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #0
Last year: I ranked Morgan #16 and said he would be a starting wide receiver (LINK). He started four games and made 27 catches for 139 yards and 1 touchdown, ran 6 times for 32 yards, and returned 9 punts for 100 yards.
TTB Rating: 76

After a breakout freshman season in 2023, I thought Semaj Morgan would have a fun 2024. He was a bit of a jack-of-all trades who could catch, run, and return punts.

And then he did absolutely nothing in 2024.

You want a fun statistic? Out of 177 players in Michigan history with 19 catches or more in a season, Semaj Morgan's 5.1 yards per catch is tied for the lowest . . . and the person tied with him was running back Anthony Thomas (33 catches, 168 yards in 1999).

Want to know what's arguably worse? The only player with 17 catches or more in a season who had a lower yards per catch than Morgan and Thomas's 5.1 was the 2024 version of Donovan Edwards (18 catches, 83 yards).

In other words, the passing game in 2024 was historically bad. Not that you didn't already know that.

On the plus side, I think Morgan is better than that. He was better in high school and he was better as a freshman. I'm going to chalk up the pitiful 2024 campaign to poor quarterbacking and poor offensive coordinator-ing, and both of those positions have been upgraded going into 2025. I think offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey will have a better idea of how to use Morgan, and I think Bryce Underwood/Mikey Keene will be able to get him the ball in more advantageous ways.

Prediction: Part-time starting wide receiver; 30 catches for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns

2025 Season Countdown: #29 Cameron Brandt

 

Cameron Brandt (image via MGoBlue)

Name: Cameron Brandt
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 270 lbs.
High school: Chatsworth (CA) Sierra Canyon
Position: Defensive end
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #91
Last year: I ranked Brandt #40 and said he would be a backup defensive end (LINK). He made 13 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, and 2 pass breakups.
TTB Rating: 82

Brandt had a bit of a coming out party in 2024, especially during the second half of the season. After a pretty boring freshman season (aside from, you know, winning a national championship), he ascended into the two-deep during his sophomore year and turned it on as the year went along, making his first career sack against Michigan State, snagging another one against Indiana, and finishing up with 3 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama.

The only edge Michigan lost ahead of Brandt was Josaiah Stewart, so Brandt remains firmly entrenched on the second unit behind Derrick Moore and T.J. Guy. Despite the loss of Stewart, I expect Michigan's edge rushers as a whole to be better in 2025. Michigan has three upperclassmen in Brandt, Guy, and Moore, and there are several talented young players, along with inside linebacker Jaishawn Barham, who will reportedly come off the edge a little bit more this season. Brandt is a good-sized body at 265 lbs. who's not the biggest or the quickest, but his combination of athleticism and agility should make him tough to handle on a consistent basis. I think he'll basically look like a third starter when he comes into the game.

Prediction: Backup defensive end

2025 Season Countdown: #30 Lawrence Hattar

 

Lawrence Hattar (image via MGoBlog)

NOTE: Transfer punter Luke Bauer was ranked #31 but is not on the fall roster, so I skipped that spot. It looks like Hudson Hollenbeck will be the most likely answer at punter.

Name: Lawrence Hattar
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 335 lbs.
High school: Livonia (MI) Churchill
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #78
Last year: Hattar played at Ferris State. He started eleven games and was a Division II All-American.
TTB Rating: N/A

Hattar came out of an in-state high school in 2021 and has spent the past four seasons playing at Ferris State. He started twenty games in that time and was part of a national championship team . . . three times. In fact, the only year he didn't win one was when Michigan won theirs in 2023, so technically Hattar will have played for a program that has won a national title the past four years. Is that a modern-day football record?

Michigan recruited Hattar to potentially step in at offensive guard and help solidify an offensive line that wasn't very good last year. Hattar was a Division II All-American, but playing at the FBS level is two steps up from there. Will he be able to immediately upgrade the offensive line? Will he be able to start in year one at a place like Michigan? The size is a good thing (6'5", 335 lbs.), but the game in the Big Ten moves much faster and the defensive tackles are stronger and more athletic. Even Myles Hinton struggled some when he first came from Stanford and he was a 5-star recruit with excellent size, so there are bound to be some growing pains. I think Hattar will be a backup guard to start the season but could potentially challenge to start halfway through the year.

Prediction: Backup offensive guard

2025 Season Countdown: #32 Dominic Nichols

 

Dominic Nichols (image via MLive)

Name: Dominic Nichols
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 255 lbs.
High school: Frederick (MD) Oakdale
Position: Defensive end
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #33
Last year: I ranked Nichols #71 and said he would be a backup defensive end (LINK). He played in five games and made 3 tackles with 1 forced fumble.
TTB Rating: 79

Nichols fell in the middle range of the countdown last season, lodged between "solid contributor" and "redshirt" status. He played in four regular season games, including a couple competitive ones, and the bowl game against Alabama; because bowl games don't count against the redshirt limit, he was able to preserve an extra year of eligibility. He looked like he belonged on the field, and the coaching staff is very high on him going into the 2025 season.

I expected Nichols to be in the 260-270 range by the time fall rolled around, so I'm a little surprised he's only up to 255 pounds this season after being 251 last year. But it appears he will be in the second group of edges, along with Cam Brandt. It should be a bit of a breakout year for Nichols, and I expect him to play well. Starters T.J. Guy and Derrick Moore will be gone in 2026, and Nichols has a chance to stake his claim for the mantle of pass rush extraordinaire going into his third season.

Prediction: Backup defensive end