The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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54 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2023 2023 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE Michigan's recent pedigree of being "Pass Rusher U" across college football is showing no signs of slowing down head- ing into the ninth season of the Jim Har- baugh era. The Wolverines bolstered their edge defender ranks on Dec. 18 via the transfer portal in former Coastal Carolina pass rusher Josaiah Stewart. Stewart was in the transfer portal for merely hours before earning an offer from the Wolverines. During the 2022 season, he racked up 41 total tackles, tied for the team lead with 10 tackles for loss, and posted 3.5 sacks, 5 quarterback hurries and a blocked kick for good measure. Stewart also tied for 30th nationally in to- tal pressures with 40 on the season while playing 514 of his 529 defensive snaps off the edge. His play last season earned him second-team All-Sun Belt honors. Stewart was even more productive as a true freshman in 2021 where he led the Sun Belt with 12.5 sacks and added 43 tackles, 15.5 stops for loss and 3 forced fumbles. He also had 41 quarterback pressures. The Wolverines are adding more than just a rotational piece, though. Pro Foot- ball Network listed Stewart as its No. 18 overall prospect for the 2024 NFL Draft in a top-50 list compiled last fall. "PFN's reigning Freshman of the Year entering 2022, Josaiah Stewart was a man amongst boys last season," PFN wrote. "And in 2022, he's proven that was no one-year wonder. Stewart is a game- wrecker and causes havoc everywhere on the field. Not your typical move-around- the-line defensive lineman, Stewart plays a multitude of positions on Coastal Caro- lina's defensive front and wins against any lineman." Despite a dip in production in 2022, Pro Football Focus still graded Stewart out highly, awarding him pass rush marks of 90.0 in 2021 and 83.3 in 2022. Stewart, who attended the same high school as graduate defensive back and captain Mike Sainristil, has a chance to add to U-M's success of sending pass rushers to the NFL. Every starting de- fensive end under Harbaugh has been drafted, a streak that will continue when Mike Morris is selected this spring. With Morris, Taylor Upshaw and Eyabi Okie moving on, Stewart has a chance to slide into an immediate impact role with Jaylen Harrell, Braiden McGregor, Derrick Moore and others in the edge rusher rotation. De- pending on how things play out, he could wind up being the best of the bunch. — Anthony Broome Linebacker Ernest Hausmann con- sidered Michigan out of high school and chose the Maize and Blue after one stand- out year at Nebraska. "They did a really good job," Haus- mann said of the Michigan staff recruit- ing him the second time around. "When they were re-recruiting me, they were explaining why the re-recruitment was a thing. That was huge to me to make sure I wasn't choosing a school based off of high school." Part of the equation, surely, was the way Hausmann played at The Big House Nov. 12, in a 34-3 Michigan victory over the Cornhuskers. Hausmann started and registered what was then a career-high 10 tackles, along with his first career sack. "The way he played against Michigan had to have really gotten their attention," HuskerOnline.com's Sean Callahan said. "If you remember the play where he ran down J.J McCarthy — it was a play in the flat — most of the time, McCarthy is go- ing to out-athlete a linebacker in space and pick up yards. But Hausmann just ran him down and sacked him. It was prob- ably one of the better individual defensive plays in that game." Hausmann notched 12 stops against Wisconsin the following week and totaled 54 tackles on the year. He struggled out of the gate, Callahan pointed out, but so did the entire Ne- braska defense, and he was thrust into a more prominent role than expected due to injuries. Hausmann came on at the end of the season. "He was Nebraska's top defensive freshman, and arguably their top fresh- man last year on their team," Callahan said. "It's what I pride myself on, always getting better, and that's what I did throughout the whole season," Haus- mann added. "Put your head down and try to get better, that's the only way to do it, no matter the circumstances that are in front of you. That's kind of how the year went." The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder has "pro ability," Callahan said, as long as he's de- veloped correctly. Hausmann enrolled early and will have the chance to earn playing time in 2023. "I'm blessed and thankful to have the opportunity to go to Ann Arbor and work with that great group of guys and great coaching staff," said Hausmann. — Clayton Sayfie Josaiah Stewart's Addition Bolsters Michigan's Pass Rush Ernest Hausmann Brings Proven Big Ten Hitting Power To U-M University of Nebraska Columbus High Columbus, Neb. Sophomore/3 Linebacker Ht.: 6-2 • Wt.: 220 Honors: Earned a varsity letter in his one year at Nebraska. Recruiting Rankings: On3 ranked him as the No. 1 linebacker and a col- lege four-star in the 2023 transfer portal … A three-star recruit in the class of 2022, rated the 59th-best linebacker in the country and the No. 5 prospect in Nebraska. Ernest Hausmann Coastal Carolina University Everett (Mass.) High Bronx, N.Y. Junior/2 Edge Ht.: 6-2 • Wt.: 230 Honors: Two-year letter winner at Coastal Carolina … Two-time All-Sun Belt team (first team, 2021; second team, 2022) … Program record-holder in single-season sacks (12.5 in 2021) … Freshman All-American (2021) by FWAA, ESPN and The Athletic, and hon- orable mention by Phil Steele. Recruiting Rankings: On3 ranked him as the No. 5 edge rusher and a col- lege four-star in the 2023 transfer portal … Ranked in the class of 2021 as the No. 4 player in Massachusetts, and the No. 90 edge and No. 936 overall pros- pect nationally, per the On3 Consensus. Josaiah Stewart