The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MARCH 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 55 Coming out of high school, Crawford was rated the nation's No. 16 long snapper by Kohl's Kicking. JOHN HENRY DALEY • EDGE SR. • 6-4, 230 UTAH • LONE PEAK (UTAH) HS On3 Transfer Portal Ranking: HHHH, No. 60 overall, No. 10 EDGE Rivals Industry Ranking (2023): HHH, No. 643 overall, No. 32 ATH Daley, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, was an All-American in 2025 (Walter Camp first team, AFCA second team, AP second team). He racked up 48 total tackles with 11.5 sacks, 17.5 tackles for loss and 2 forced fumbles this season before suffering a season-ending injury in November. The Alpine, Utah, native enrolled at BYU in 2023, playing in three games and recording 3 tackles and maintaining his redshirt season. After transferring to Utah in 2024, Daley played in seven games with 4 total tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss. "He's a tough kid. He just keeps coming at you. He's a throwback guy. He's old school. He's just a grinder," Kyle Whittingham said last season. "How haven't we seen him improve? He's improved in every aspect of his game. He's stronger. He's a technician. I mean, he's worked on his fundamentals and his techniques extremely hard. He's got really good pass-rush skills as evidenced by, I think he's still leading the nation in sacks. He's a guy that has really, really polished up his game over the last year and really made himself into an exceptional player." JAIME FFRENCH • WR SO. • 6-1, 185 TEXAS • MANDARIN (FLORIDA) HS On3 Transfer Portal Ranking: HHH, No. 69 WR Rivals Industry Ranking (2025): HHHH, No. 59 overall, No. 9 WR Ffrench spent one season at Texas and played in four games, maintaining his redshirt status and allowing him to enter the Michigan program with four seasons of eligibility. He caught 1 pass for 6 yards against Sam Houston State, but the former top-60 recruit was ready to move on. U-M's freshman duo of quarterback Bryce Underwood and wide receiver Andrew Marsh was key in steering him toward Ann Arbor. "They just wanted me to visit," Ffrench told The Wolverine. "I took a visit, and I saw exactly what they were talking about. It was just spot on, exactly the opportunity I'm looking for, great people in the building, it's the perfect place for me." U-M's change to a spread offense and more of a willingness to spread the ball around to its wideouts played a major role in his decision. "It will be presenting a lot more 11 personnel, a lot of putting the ball in the receivers' hands," Ffrench said. "So, with that, why not play beside Bryce and Marsh, my two great buddies, on this type of level?" BRAYDEN FOWLER-NICOLOSI • QB GR. • 6-2, 200 COLORADO STATE • ALEDO (TEXAS) HS On3 Transfer Portal Ranking: HHH, No. 62 QB Rivals Industry Ranking (2022): HHH, No. 1,080 overall, No. 62 QB After appearing in 31 games with 28 starts in four seasons in Fort Collins, Fowler-Nicolosi joins a U-M program that needed to augment its depth at quarterback via the transfer portal. He was an All-Mountain West honorable mention pick in 2023, leading all conference players in total of- fense (3,433 yards). He has completed 583-of-969 passes for 6,937 yards with 38 touchdowns and 29 interceptions in his ca- reer, along with rushing for 6 touchdowns and catching a touch- down, too. He has also punted 7 times with each landing inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Fowler-Nicolosi will likely be given a shot to compete for the backup job behind Underwood. "Electric arm. Big arm," Kevin Lytle of The Coloradoan said. "Kind of that cliché, he can make every throw. They were aiming for an air-raid offense still at that point, and so he really unlocked some of that and they were able to make some big plays, really explosive plays. He had Tory Horton at that time, and those two connected really well. It was pretty electric at times. "He's also not a runner but has mobility and can move around, both in the pocket and escape and run a little bit as needed there. He's an athletic kid. The arm talent definitely catches the eye. If you watch him throw in practices or whatever, it's a 'wow' arm, pretty effortless." COLIN HURLEY • QB JUNIOR • 6-1 • 218 LSU • JACKSONVILLE (FLA.) TRINITY CHRISTIAN On3 Transfer Portal Ranking: HHH, No. 71 QB Rivals Industry Ranking (2024): HHH, No. 337 overall, No. 23 QB A former four-star prospect and the No. 23 quarterback in the 2024 class per On3, Hurley spent two seasons at LSU under for- mer head coach Brian Kelly. He redshirted his first year in 2024, before being injured in a car accident in January 2025. He didn't play the next season and may receive a medical hardship waiver, which would give him four more years of college football. An Elite 11 finalist and U.S. Army All-American, the Jackson- ville (Fla.) Trinity Christian Academy star was a two-time state champion at the prep level, throwing for more than 5,000 yards in his career. HOUSTON KA'AHA'AINA-TORRES • OL SO. • 6-3 • 300 NEBRASKA • HONOLULU (HAWAI'I) ST. LOUIS On3 Transfer Portal Ranking: HHH, No. 176 IOL Rivals Industry Ranking (2025): HHH, No. 640 overall, No. 54 IOL It didn't happen right away, but Ka'aha'aina-Torres will finally play for head coach Kyle Whittingham and offensive line coach Jim Harding, both of whom were at Utah when the Utes offered him out of high school. As a transfer, Ka'aha'aina-Torres chose