Wolverine Digest

ESPN says to keep your eyes on one Michigan football newcomer in 2025

Trent Knoop|
Raj Mehta-Imagn Images

When you're the No. 1 ranked player in the country, there will be plenty of eyes and expectations. That's the case of Bryce Underwood and Michigan football entering 2025. The Wolverines signed the Belleville (MI) product in hopes of him turning around the Michigan passing attack. It won't take much, though. The maize and blue had the 131st-ranked passing offense in the country last season while rotating between three quarterbacks.

Underwood will have some competition, however. Sherrone Moore and Co. went out and landed veteran Mikey Keene out of the transfer portal for his final year of college football. Keene has familiarity with offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and he's thrown for nearly 3,000 yards in each of the last two seasons.

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Some believe Keen and Underwood could be used like Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy were used in McCarthy's freshman season. But Underwood is the No.1 player for a reason and it could be difficult to keep him on the bench. With that in mind, ESPN analyst Andrea Adelson said Underwood is her newcomer of the year to keep tabs on.

"Is it a coincidence Michigan started to flip the script on its season after prized 2025 recruit Bryce Underwood flipped his commitment from LSU to the Wolverines in November? Less than two weeks later, they beat Ohio State and then beat Alabama in the bowl game to ride a wave of optimism headed into the offseason. Underwood is just a part of that. The highest-rated signee in school history, Underwood fills an area of immediate need at quarterback -- the position where Michigan had the biggest drop off from its 2024 national championship season. The Wolverines simply had no one who could command the offense the way J.J. McCarthy did, but in Underwood they have a player with all the physical tools to be able to play right away. He enrolled early and enters the spring in a quarterback competition with Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene. No matter what happens from there, Underwood will command plenty of attention once 2025 begins."

With the Michigan Spring Game just a few months away, the quarterback position will be an interesting battle to keep tabs on for the University of Michigan.

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Trent Knoop
TRENT KNOOP

Trent began writing and covering Michigan athletics back in 2020. He became a credentialed member of the media in 2021. Trent began writing with Sports Illustrated in 2023 and became the Managing Editor for Michigan Wolverines On SI during the 2025 football season. Trent also serves as the Publisher of Baylor Bears on SI. His other bylines have appeared on Maryland on SI, Wisconsin on SI, and across the USA TODAY Sports network. Trent’s love of sports and being able to tell stories to fans is what made him get into writing.

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