The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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2025 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ 22 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MARCH 2025 BY ETHAN MCDOWELL M ichigan's sixth-ranked re- cruiting class includes nine On3 Top 100 recruits and a pair of five-star prospects. Top-ranked quarterback Bryce Underwood headlines the group, but he's not the only one to receive praise from the experts. Longtime recruiting analyst Tom Lem- ming of Prep Football Report, On3's di- rector of scouting and rankings Charles Power and The Wolverine recruiting in- sider EJ Holland all shared their thoughts on Michigan's 2025 class. BIGGEST RECRUITING WIN Lemming: It has to be Bryce Under- wood. He's No. 1 in the country, just a great player. … He's the type of guy that can really turn a program around. Power: In my time of doing this, he's certainly in the conversation as one of the most physically gifted quarterbacks, if not the most physically gifted. There's so much that he brings to the table from an ability standpoint with his arm talent, athleticism, size and potential. He is a super-gifted passer, what he showed as a run threat as a senior was eye-opening. Holland: The biggest recruiting win was obviously Bryce Underwood. He's the No. 1 quarterback and No. 1 over- all recruit in America. Michigan has a big need at the quarterback position. It wouldn't be surprising to see him have a J.J. McCarthy-like freshman year, where he got some immediate time and takes over and wins a lot of football games as a sophomore and as a junior. I think Bryce is as good as you can get at the position, and Michigan did a fantastic job of put- ting together a really strong NIL deal and flipping him away from LSU late. MOST IMPORTANT ADDITION Lemming: Underwood is probably the most important, but Michigan did well by finishing strong with some pretty good offensive linemen. I just like the whole class. Power: Bryce Underwood has pro- gram-altering potential, given the cali- ber of prospect he is and the fact that he's a quarterback. I think Sherrone Moore's tenure at Michigan is likely going to be defined by Bryce Underwood, or the tra- jectory will be set by Bryce Underwood. He's just a massive prospect and recruit for Michigan. He's going to really be the center of how we view the program, at least on the field, for the next couple years. Holland: I'm going to go with Shamari Earls. I think that his addition is extremely important due to the de- parture of Will Johnson. Michigan needs another shutdown corner. I'm not sure there's really one on the roster at this time. Shamari is a freak of an athlete. He's 6-foot-2 but runs in the 10.6-sec- ond range in the 100 meters. He has that rare combination of height, length and speed. I think he can be much like Will Johnson — make an impact as a true freshman and be one of the greats of the position. BIGGEST STEAL Lemming: In my magazine, I put him as their sleeper — the free safety out of North Carolina Jordan Young. Same thing with Bobby Kanka, who was underrated. I thought he was one of the better players, so I invited him to the U.S. Army Game. Really liked him a lot during my travels. An- other steal was probably Nate Mar- shall. They stole him from Auburn. Power: I'll go with Travis Moten. He was committed to Western Mich- igan. He was a Group of Five-level prospect who had a great senior sea- son. He led the state of Kentucky in sacks. He is really big at 6-foot-6+, 285, and long. He brings a nice com- bination of size and pass-rush skills to the table. He's a guy who, I think, could ultimately be a 315-pounder type. Holland: Michigan was able to flip Jamar Browder from NC State late in the process. The Wolverines made a commitment to adding more size in the wide receiver room. Browder is all of 6-4, 200-plus pounds. He's a big, thick receiver who can get on the field earlier than his ranking suggests. He also happened to be a personal favorite of Sherrone Moore, who made sure that the Wolverines treated him like a top priority. BIGGEST SURPRISE Lemming: After beating Ohio State, everything changed. I noticed before that, things had gone slow in recruiting by Michigan standards. They beat Ohio State, and things really picked up in De- cember. That's when I saw all the changes. Kids started thinking about Michigan that weren't considering them before, and they really hit their stride at the end — when it's the most important time to hit your stride. Power: They just gained a ton of mo- mentum in the middle of the cycle. That's Tom Lemming noted that quarterback Bryce Underwood could be the answer to all the superlative categories in the U-M class. His late flip from LSU and arrival in Ann Arbor became the No. 1 storyline in the 2025 recruiting cycle. GRAPHIC COURTESY MICHIGAN FOOTBALL EXPERT ROUNDTABLE National Recruiting Analysts Discuss U-M's Class