The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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SEPTEMBER 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 19 one of the pass catchers who stresses defenses on deep routes, Jansen pre- dicted, because of his great speed. "Fred's thing now is, 'You're not a freshman,'" wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy said. "You played as a sopho- more, and we're counting on you. "You're an older guy, and the word we're chasing for him daily is 'confi- dence.' The more confident he is, the better player he is — and he came into camp super confident." 6. JIMMY ROLDER, SR., LB Rolder has been banged up much of his first three years, but he's shown flashes of his ability on the field. He'll still be the third guy in after notching 26 tackles in 12 games last year, but there will be plenty of three-man linebacker sets in which he plays, Martindale said this fall. "He's someone that we looked at as a starter last year," senior linebacker Ernest Hausmann said. "He's a great, highly skilled player. He's very smart. He's very versatile; he knows both po- sitions. We can trust him to go in there, know any position and play at a very high level. "He's done a really good job of staying locked in no matter what. And that's what I respect about Jimmy. He never com- plains. He's never said, 'I want more play- ing time. I want this.' He's just, 'Let me know when I'm in, let me know my posi- tion, and I'm going to execute my job.'" 5. CAMERON BRANDT, JR., EDGE "Cam is a bruiser," defensive coor- dinator Wink Martindale said in nam- ing the junior as one of four outstand- ing Michigan edges. Rumblings are the 6-4, 270-pounder is one of the most improved defensive players on the team after having appeared in 27 games dur- ing his first two years. "He's got heavy hands," graduate stu- dent edge TJ Guy said. "We'll have drills with arm shields and swipes, or we'll do it with each other, and you've got to watch out when he goes, because his hands are heavy as hell." He should be an outstanding anchor on the edge. 4. TJ GUY, GR., EDGE Some would point to last year as his breakout season since Guy notched 419 defensive snaps with 32 tackles, 7 tack- les for loss, 5.5 sacks, and 25 quarter- back pressures playing behind third- round draft pick Josaiah Stewart. Now, though, he's "the guy" here and hav- ing an outstanding fall camp at the field edge position … and yet he understands it's all about doing his job. "I feel like I'm definitely looking at things differently this year than last year, but it's the same game, same way to attack," Guy said. "You're out there playing for your teammates. It's not about your production; it's not about anything you've got going on. You've got to be in your gap for your teammate so you can play sound defense." He gets it. 3. JYAIRE HILL, JR., CB Hill started nine games at corner last year in Will Johnson's absence, which meant a lot of time on the field. He notched 35 tackles with 5.5 for loss and 1 sack, added 9 pass breakups with 1 inter- ception, but he wasn't consistent. He's been much better this spring, and his dependability on and off the field could help determine the ceiling of both his position group and the defense overall. "Hill, to me, is a unique kid," Morgan said. "He's loaded with talent. When you take a kid like that who's super talented and played high school running back and you get him and tell him he's a DB, it takes him a little bit of time to develop. "I think he's matured. … He's silly at times, but he knows when to turn on the switch and turn off the switch. … He's just a young kid that is super talented. I think he can have a really good season if he can stay focused." 2. ANDREW SPRAGUE, SO., OT The sophomore right tackle more than held his own in the Alabama game a year ago, and he's doing well against Michigan's outstanding defensive ends in practice. Jansen called it last year, saying he saw in him the "nasty streak" many of the former greats at Michigan have had, predicting it was only a mat- ter of time. Well … here we are. Sprague should be a multi-year starter, and it wouldn't surprise to see him on some All-Big Ten teams as early as this season. "He's big as hell," Guy said. "He makes everything look the same. He's a great player. I feel like him getting thrown in the fire in the last game ver- sus Bama was very good for him just to boost his career." 1. JORDAN MARSHALL, SO., RB The sophomore carried the ball 23 times for 100 yards in a ReliaQuest Bowl win over Alabama, with 82 of his yards coming after contact. He and Alabama transfer Justice Haynes should form an outstanding one-two punch in the backfield, with Marshall doing a lot of work inside the tackles and Haynes the guy more apt to get around the edge, Jansen explained. Marshall showed good second effort on the way to 12 forced missed tackles versus the Crimson Tide, according to Pro Football Focus. He was named Re- liaQuest Bowl MVP for his efforts. "Our saying this summer was 'Team Over Me,' and I truly believe that," Mar- shall said. "If I have to run the ball one time, 10 times, whatever it is — if I have to pass block — I'm just going to go out there and do my best and help this team win. And at the end of the day, I know Justice thinks the same way." ❏ Junior wide receiver Fredrick Moore appears ready to build on his ReliaQuest Bowl perfor- mance, in which he had 3 receptions for 37 yards and a touchdown in U-M's 19-13 win versus Alabama. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN