The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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should improve — but the Wolverines also still have questions at receiver. Whit- tingham and new offensive coordinator Beck will help find a middle ground, but there will still be bouts with inconsistency against the top defenses on the schedule. Fornelli: We all probably need to temper our expectations when it comes to quar- terbacks these days, because we all get so focused on the guys who figure it out right away and ignore all the examples of guys needing time. Last year, Underwood was a true freshman adapting to big-time college football under a coaching staff that was an absolute mess. Now he's a sophomore with adults in the room running things, but he's once again learning a new offense. In many ways, this is like a second freshman season. The good news is the learning curve should be sped up because he knows the lay of the land now in a way he didn't last season. I expect to see improvement, but not to the level of being the best QB in the conference. I do think Michigan can reach the playoff with mild improvement, but if the hope is for a deep postseason run, Underwood needs to take a significant step. Lassan: I'm expecting a big jump from Bryce Underwood this season. It's no secret the expectations were unbelievably high for Underwood in '25 as a true freshman. However, I thought his year went as ex- pected with flashes of talent but also plenty of areas to improve upon. That theme con- tinued into the spring, and it may take some time to adapt to the new staff and scheme. Entering '26, Ohio State's Julian Sayin, Oregon's Dante Moore, USC's Jayden Maiava, Washington's Demond Williams Jr. and Indiana's Josh Hoover are likely to be the consensus top five signal-callers in the Big Ten. A jump into that tier isn't out of the question, but I think it's more reasonable to expect Underwood to rank into that second tier of quarterbacks in the conference. New play-caller Jason Beck is one of the Big Ten's top coordinator hires this offseason and has thrived at work- ing with mobile quarterbacks. His abil- ity to mesh Underwood's strengths with a scheme that produced instant results at Utah last season should help the sopho- more's development. Ultimately, I think Underwood's play will determine just how high Michigan climbs in the Big Ten. This team has the right mix of defense, rushing New Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham had four 10-win teams in his last seven years at Utah. Michigan had three during the same period. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL THE WOLVERINE 2026 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 37