3 Positions Michigan Football Will Significantly Improve in 2026

Michigan was a very young football team under former Head Coach Sherrone Moore in 2025 relative to their competition. They did lose some pieces, but they were also able to retain a lot of that young talent as they head into the Kyle Whittingham era at Michigan in 2026. They even improved upon their roster at a few key spots as they go into this season. Let's dive into which spots they improved at as they enter the 2026 football season.

Spot #1: Wide Receiver

The biggest jump in talent at a single position from the 2025 team to the 2026 team, in my opinion, is at wide receiver. At the top of the depth chart for Michigan in 2025 it was freshman Andrew Marsh, Donaven McCulley, Semaj Morgan, and a whole bunch of inexperienced players in Kendrick Bell, Channing Goodwin, I'Marion Stewart, Jamar Browder, and Jacob Washington. Needless to say, outside of Andrew Marsh, this group just did not produce very much for Michigan last season.

In 2026, Michigan will feature a much deeper and higher quality wide receiver room. Andrew Marsh returns as the sophomore star, joined by another talented sophomore in JJ Buchanan from Utah. Also in as a transfer is Jaime Ffrench, who was a highly touted recruit when he enrolled at Texas, and he's still just a sophomore now as well. Salesi Moa is another very talented player who joined the team as a freshman, and he actually enrolled this spring already and now seems poised to be in the two deep.

While those four will be at the top of the depth chart entering 2026, they still also return the aforementioned young players like Channing Goodwin, Jamar Browder, Kendrick Bell, and Jacob Washington. All of those players should be better in 2026 than they were in 2025, and can be expected to fill out the rest of the rotation for depth purposes. This position group looks like a huge upgrade from what they were in 2025.

Quarterback Aidan Chiles throws downfield as Michigan Wolverines defensive lineman Enow Etta defends | Brendan Mullin-Imagn Images

Spot #2: Defensive Tackle

The second biggest upgrade at a position from 2025 to 2026 for Michigan is on the interior of the defensive line. In 2025, it was veterans Rayshaun Benny, Tre Williams, and Damon Payne leading the way. While those guys were all solid last season, defensive line wasn't exactly a strength for the 2025 team. Also rotating in were Enow Etta and Trey Pierce, with Deyvid Palepale, Bobby Kanka, Travis Moten, Benny Patterson III, Ted Hammond, and Ike Iwunnah filling out the depth at the position.

As the season went on, Enow Etta and Trey Pierce actually started to overtake the older players at the position and ended up playing really well down the stretch. Now those two enter 2026 as the two starters at the position, and both Enow Etta and Trey Pierce look the part of All-Big Ten type players at the defensive tackle position for Michigan.

They will be backed up by Deyvid Palepale and Utah transfer Jonah Lea'ea, who reportedly looked good this spring. Bobby Kanka was also praised recently by defensive end Lugard Edokpayi as someone who could step up this season. That leaves Michigan with at least five players they feel good about at the defensive tackle position entering next season which was certainly not true for the 2025 team.

Michigan Wolverines offensive lineman Evan Link against the Washington Huskies during the 2024 College Football Playoff national championship game | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Spot #3: Offensive Line

The third spot, I believe, will be the most upgraded from what they were in 2025 is the offensive line. Michigan lost a lot of experience from Greg Crippen and Giovanni El-Hadi from the 2025 group, but returns experienced players Andrew Sprague, Blake Frazier, Evan Link, and Jake Guarnera. All four of those players have shown flashes of excellence in their playing time thus far, and will seemingly be better in 2026 just due to the experience they gained last season.

They also bring back Nathan Efobi as an experienced player, and former 5-star recruit Andrew Babalola from a knee injury. That leaves them with six quality bodies they feel good about starting on the offensive line for this upcoming season.

Just bringing back that many quality players with experience should be a big benefit for new offensive line coach Jim Harding, and with his high level of coaching at the position, the offensive line should be much improved for Michigan in 2026.

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