7 Michigan Players Who Boosted Their Stock in the Spring Game

Michigan had its annual spring game on Saturday, where it was a 7-6 final score — a defensive battle. The Wolverines played 'thud' football in the first quarter — essentially two-hand tap — then the starters exited the game and tackle football resumed for the final three quarters.

It's hard to takeaway too much from the spring game, but there were a few players who really stood out and boosted their stock entering fall camp.

QB Tommy Carr

It's important not to overreact during a spring game. Teams aren't going to show much during these games, oh, and Bryce Underwood is the starting quarterback for Michigan.

But there is a potential QB2 battle and the true freshman dazzled out there. Tommy Carr is much quicker than some realized and he throws a nice football. Colorado State transfer Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi won't arrive until the fall, and Carr has taken the majority of the No. 2 reps.

Michigan Wolverines quarterback Tommy Carr (14) looks on — Brian Bradshaw Sevald-Imagn Images

Carr seriously impressed on Saturday, completing 21-of-30 passes for 143 yards. He also ran the ball 10 times for 61 yards. The pocket collapses on both Underwood and Carr several times on Saturday, and Carr made the most of his reps.

It's important to truly realize he isn't going to take over Underwood's job — don't overreact here. But Carr looked impressive and, at least in the spring game, he looked more than capable of holding down the backup job.

WR Salesi Moa

With the pocket collapsing one too many times on Saturday, it was hard to see much out of the passing attack. Underwood, Carr, nor Herbstreit were able to scan the field very long to find their target, but one wide receiver who impressed the most was freshman five-star Salesi Moa.

In the second quarter, Carr threw an errant pass Moa's way, but the 6'2" freshman hauled in the pass with a one-handed catch. He ended the day catching four of his six targets for 26 yards. Both Moa and his counterpart, Jaime Ffrench, both looked good and should provide the Wolverines with solid depth behind Andrew Marsh and JJ Buchanan.

RBs Savion Hiter + Jonathan Brown

Starter Jordan Marshall played in the first quarter and looked impressive during the 'thud' portion of the game. Once full-contact began, Marshall didn't play, but we finally saw Savion Hiter in action — he looked the part.

Hiter saw 10 carries for 44 yards. Talk about a true freshman who literally looks like a projected draft pick. Hiter is huge and one thing that popped out right away is that he's not going to go down on first contact. It's going to take good tackling and double teams to take Hiter down this season.

Team Blue running back Savion Hiter (5) runs against Team Maize during the spring game — Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Outside of Hiter, true freshman Jonathan Brown looked the best on the ground. Brown is battling for the No. 4 job behind Bryson Kuzdzal and he gave no reason to believe it's not going to be him. Brown carried the ball 6 times for 21 yards. He had a big gain taken back due to a holding call, that would've gone 15-plus yards. He has good vision and a quick burst when hitting the hole.

DT Travis Moten

The defensive line was very impressive on Saturday and Travis Moten was one player who really stood out. The redshirt freshman led tied with a game-high six tackles and he led the Wolverines with two sacks.

Moten was a force up the middle and gave whichever offensive linemen who attempted to block him a hard time. Head coach Kyle Whittingham had said he thinks they are at least five deep at the defensive tackle position, and after seeing Moten in the spring game, I'd have to say he has a chance of being in that five.

Edge Nate Marshall

Another defensive lineman who impressed was Nate Marshall off the edge. He made Evan Link look silly a couple of times, and Marshall showed why he was a coveted prospect in the 2025 class. Both Cameron Brandt and John Henry Daley are going to be the starting edge rushers, but expect Marshall to be next in line, along with Dominic Nichols.

S Kainoa Winston

Winston redshirted last season, but he was all over the field on Saturday. Winston projects at safety, but if Michigan needs help at corner, it wouldn't be shocking to see Winston on the field — especially at Nickel.

Winston tied Travis Moten with six tackles on the day. You could tell Winston was always around the ball, and once the box score came out, that further proved it.

Add us as a preferred source on Google