5 Winners From Michigan's Fall Camp as Wolverines Approach Week 1

It's game week and head coach Kyle Whittingham named five players who's stock raised this fall.

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We've made it to game week and the Michigan Wolverines are set to take on Western Michigan on Saturday in a primetime game.

While it might be game week, there are still positions where we don't know for certain who is going to start. We have a good idea, but Kyle Whittingham won't release a depth chart ahead of the WMU game. He did name Tommy Carr QB2 behind Bryce Underwood, but that was the extent of what had to say on Monday.

He didn't give away his hands, but Whittingham did mention five Wolverines whose stock has risen from fall camp.

WR Channing Goodwin

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Surprise, surprise, another mention of Channing Goodwin. It sounds very familiar to last season, as Goodwin emerged during fall camp. Drops hurt Goodwin once he hit the field last fall, but it sounds like he's on pace to seeing the field again in 2026.

"Channing Goodwin as a receiver. He's really brought himself in the mix," Whittingham said. "Now, make no mistake, Andrew Marsh and J.J. Buchanan will be on the field 90% plus at the time, given that they stay healthy. Channing is a guy that really came into his own this fall and is a guy that's going to be a factor for us."

As of now, we don't know if it's going to be Jaime Ffrench or Salesi Moa at WR3, but those two will play a lot, along with Goodwin and freshman Travis Johnson.

Edge Nate Marshall

When fall camp began, it sounded like Nate Marshall fell out of grace. We didn't hear about the second-year edge rusher, and there was merit to that. On Monday, Whittingham admitted there were things Marshall was doing that he wasn't happy about.

But as fall camp marched on, Marshall has emerged and Whittingham believes he might be the best pure pass rusher on the team. Both Marshall and Dom Nichols have been given a lot of praise this fall.

"Nate Marshall, who had some struggles in spring, some things that I wasn't real pleased with off the field," admitted Whittingham "He's really grown up in the last eight months. Hopefully he can stay on that trajectory. He's one of the best pass rushers on the team, if not the best pure pass rusher. He's got a real talent for bending the edge and getting his hips turned and getting the QB."

The Wolverines are really deep at edge, but Marshall is cemented in the rotation.

LB Chase Taylor

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Nathaniel Staehling has been the fall camp standout — more on him soon — and he hadn't heard as much about Chase Taylor since the spring. But Whittingham ended that on Monday by calling Taylor someone who is playing like a big-time linebacker.

"Linebacker-wise, Chase [Taylor] has really started to function like a big-time linebacker. Chase Taylor is functioning like a big-time linebacker," said Whittingham.

Michigan has four LBs it can trust this season. Expect to see a lot of those two, along with Troy Bowles and Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng.

S Chris Bracy

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Bracy was a big-time addition from Memphis and he's playing like the best safety on the team. Whittingham said Rod Moore will play a lot on Saturday, but he's not quite there yet from where he was in 2023.

But luckily, Michigan has Bracy, who is playing lights out and he is currently the top safety on the team.

"Very good things from Chris. He had a really good spring and he continued into the fall and really has been our most consistent, No. 1 safety," Whittingham said. "Rod is on the come. He's going to play Saturday and he's going to play quite a bit, but he's not quite where he was prior to the setback. Chris Bracey has been rock solid from start to finish."

Bracy and Moore will likely start this weekend. Expect both Mason Curtis and Jordan Young to see plenty of snaps as well.

LB Nathaniel Staehling

And there is the Staehling talk. Whittingham essentially told us that he is going to start on Saturday without coming out and saying it. My best guess would be that both Staehling and Troy Bowles will start with Chase Taylor being the No. 3 LB.

Michigan loved Staehling coming out of North Dakota State and he has been everything and more this fall camp.

"He is a productive guy," Whittingham said. "That's the thing that's the most impressive, is how often he is around the football or making the tackle. He's a tackling machine. Some linebackers just have that instinct to be around the ball constantly. He is that guy.

"He's big and physical, 6'2", 240-plus pounds. He runs really well. He's got great instincts and football body position and angles. He just looks like you want an inside linebacker to look. He's really performed well, and you're going to see a lot of him on Saturday."

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