How JJ Buchanan and Michigan's 'Explosive' Offense Will Help Andrew Marsh in 2026

Andrew Marsh is looking to back 2026 much bigger than last year.

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Despite wide receivers struggling to catch the football last season, it took Sherrone Moore four games before inserting freshman Andrew Marsh into the starting lineup in 2025. Marsh had his chance in Week 6 against Wisconsin, where he would snag four catches for 80 yards.

Marsh never looked back, and although he had a late start, he led Michigan last season with 651 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

Entering Year 2 in Ann Arbor and his second season with Bryce Underwood behind center, teams have a good scouting report on what Marsh can accomplish in 2026. He is already viewed as a premier wide receiver in the Big Ten, and the sophomore playmaker is looking forward to the challenge.

"I've thought about it, but I mean I like the challenge," Marsh said on Friday. "To me, this is one of the best conferences, if not the best conference in college football. So really being challenged and having a good defensive scheme is something that I feel like is only going to push me further."

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While teams are going to key in on Marsh, he's not alone. Last season, Marsh had 6'5" Donaven McCulley as his sidekick, but the passing game didn't overly help McCulley and he struggled to create separation.

But this season, Michigan went out and landed some talent in the portal, and Marsh's likely 1B is going to be Utah transfer JJ Buchanan. If the opposition keys too much on Marsh, it's going to allow Buchanan to win his assignments.

Adding Buchanan with Marsh could open up the passing game more and allow Marsh to really shine in 2026.

"He's definitely somebody that's going to come in — he's going to make an impact for our room this year," Marsh said of Buchanan. "I feel like he's somebody who can stretch help stretch the field a lot and really just somebody who can that can really just help our team out."

One word on Michigan's offense

But it's not just going to be the addition of Buchanan that's going to help Marsh in 2026. It's going to be the new scheme under offensive coordinator Jason Beck.

Beck comes from Utah, following Kyle Whittingham to Michigan. The Wolverines are going to run a lot of 11 personnel this season, spreading the defense out. But it's not going to just be passing the football. In each of the last two seasons, Beck's offense has been No. 2 in the nation running the football.

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Marsh believes the offense is going to be explosive and the team will be able to change things up by how they run and pass the football.

"Explosive, I would say," Marsh said. "That's kind of like the first thing that comes to my mind whenever I think about our offense this year. Really just the ability to spread the ball around, go from running to pass is going to be crazy."

Bryce Underwood's improvement

Even with the additions of the wide receivers and Jason Beck's scheme, Marsh won't be able to have the year that he wants unless Bryce Underwood makes improvements. Underwood didn't live up to expectations in 2025, although those might have been too high on the true freshman.

But 2026 is supposed to be Underwood's year, playing under Beck and having a dedicated quarterbacks coach.

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Marsh has already given Underwood high praise this spring and once again, he says he has seen a lot of improvement from Underwood and he feels like the game has slowed down for both of them.

"I've seen a lot," Marsh said of Underwood. "I feel like he's grown a lot just as a player and his maturity and kind of like what I was saying, I feel like the game has just slowed down for us a lot. So, really just being able to be more comfortable."

Fans will be able to see the duo in action in Week 1 against Western Michigan.