The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1532537
❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ MARCH 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 23 not something we always see. Some of that I'm sure is NIL-driven, but they re- ally caught a second wind in the middle of the cycle, which is not common. Holland: I think Ty Haywood was ar- guably just as big of a surprise as Bryce Underwood because he is an out-of-re- gion player down in Texas and originally from Mississippi — where the Wolver- ines hardly have any recruiting success. He grew up a fan of Alabama. Michigan wasn't really on his radar going into sum- mer official visits. He had never been to campus and, even so, I still put in a pre- diction for Michigan to land him because the Wolverines surprised many with their sudden turn in NIL philosophy. MOST LIKELY INSTANT IMPACT Lemming: Bryce, or Andrew Babalola, who I think is a great five-star offensive tackle from Kansas. I loved him. … He's got a great frame on him, and I think, if any freshman is going to start on the of- fensive line, it'll be him. I would say Bryce will probably get the job right away. If not, it's normally wide receivers, maybe An- drew Marsh or someone like that. Power: I love Kainoa Winston as a prospect. He is one of my favorite safeties in the class, without question. If Kainoa Winston was 6-1, he would maybe be the No. 1 safety in the country. The only real knock against him as a prospect is he's around 5-10, 5-10.5. He is an awesome football player and has some of the most physical safety film that we watched. He is a full-speed guy and hyper physical. He has range, he's a plus athlete and he's a top sprinter — there's so much to like about him. I could see [running back] Jas- per Parker maybe getting carries fairly early. He's going to come in ready to play, physically. He's got receiving skills. I think he of- fers an every-down type of skill set, and I just think he's going to come in not too far off, just from a physical build perspective, and I think he adds some size to Michi- gan's running back room. He's a guy who can just do a lot of dif- ferent things. Holland: Even though he dropped significantly in the rank- ings late in the process, Andrew Marsh should have an opportunity to compete for a starting job, if not significant play- ing time as a true freshman. Michigan's wide receiver room is in desperate need of help, and Marsh can provide that. While he's not a straight line burner, he's very physical. MOST POTENTIAL Lemming: Underwood. You could say him for everything. I think Andrew Baba- lola, the tackle, also has enormous five- star potential. Power: I'm not going to repeat my- self with Bryce Underwood, but I would say Andrew Babalola. Andrew Babalola, I would classify as a developmental offen- sive tackle prospect, a guy who is probably going to benefit from a redshirt year. He hasn't played a ton of football. I think he was just a two-year varsity player but has a lot of the tools you look for at offensive tackle. Holland: Travis Moten was a late find for the Michigan staff. He was previously committed to Western Michigan and didn't draw a lot of Power Four attention. … I think that he has the potential to grow into a multi-year starter and be an impact player for the Wolverines. DEEPEST POSITION GROUP Lemming: The offensive line. These are all good players, too. These are big- time guys. Power: Michigan certainly signed one of the top secondary classes in this cycle. Everybody that they signed in the posi- tion can really play. There's not even re- ally a lot of holes to poke there. They're all very good prospects and guys who we think are high-end, blue-chip types. Holland: The secondary is the obvious pick here. Michigan was able to land three Industry Top 100 recruits to go along with two other On300 recruits. I think you landed your Will Johnson replace- ment in Shamari Earls. You added a really, really fun player in Kainoa Winston, who can also make an immediate impact. Jor- dan Young was a huge flip from Clemson late in the cycle, and expectations are for him to be Rod Moore-esque. And then you have two really high-upside pros- pects in Jayden Sanders and Elijah Dot- son. It's a fantastic first group for new secondary coach LaMar Morgan. PERSONAL FAVORITE Lemming: Andrew Babalola. I saw him on film, but then when you see the guys in person, that's when you can tell the exact size they say they are. He looked thin at 290 whenever I saw him a year ago. He's going to be a 330-pound left tackle. He's going to be outstanding. Power: I would say Bryce Underwood on offense and Kainoa Winston on de- fense, but there's a lot that you could pick. When you look at Michigan's class, it's just a very well-evaluated class. There's not a lot of dead weight in the class. The evaluations are strong, and I think there's a number of high- end contributors and guys who we think have NFL potential. Holland: I'm going to go with Eli Owens. He's not one of the more highly touted recruits in the cycle, but he is arguably one of the most interesting prospects in the class. He's a future team captain with a magnetic personality, but he's also a guy that can come in and fill in for Max Bredeson. He's an old-school football player that likes to put people in the dirt from the fullback spot. He can be a traditional tight end, but what makes him different from Max Bredeson is his ability as a pass catcher. He's a true threat in the receiving game. ❑ The Wolverine recruiting analyst EJ Holland said of cornerback Shamari Earls: "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." PHOTO BY EJ HOLLAND