Bryce Underwood needs to be 'the guy' for Michigan Football in 2025, says CFB analyst

Year 2 under Sherrone Moore will bring more change to Michigan Football, most notably a shift in offensive approach under new coordinator Chip Lindsey.

The Wolverines will also look different at quarterback, with incoming five-star freshman Bryce Underwood battling Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene, incumbent starter Davis Warren and redshirt freshman Jadyn Davis for the starting job.

While we're a long way away from Michigan announcing who QB1 will be in 2025, On3's J.D. PicKell believes the choice is abundantly clear.

"I think it's Bryce Underwood's job. I would be wildly surprised if he's not your guy Game 1 heading into 2025," PicKell said on a recent episode of his podcast, The Hard Count.

On3 Sports' J.D. PicKell says Bryce Underwood should start at quarterback for Chip Lindsey, Michigan Football in 2025 — Michigan signee Bryce Underwood smiles during national signing day at Belleville High School in Belleville on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"What I love about Bryce Underwood in this offense is, they're going to give him a lot of freedom to make decisions," PicKell continued. "Whether it be him calling his own number, whether it be with him in the mesh-point of an option play to give it to the running back, or for him to pull the trigger on an RPO and push the ball down the field."

While PicKell still expects Michigan to run the football at a high rate under Lindsey, he'd like to see the Wolverines put the ball in Underwood's hands more often than not.

"When you have a generational talent at quarterback, you make sure they can impact the game as much as humanly possible, and that will be what they do in '25 with him in this offense with Chip Lindsey," PicKell said.

"Yes, you still run the football, but, like, if you're allegedly paying this guy north of $10 million, it doesn't hurt for him to probably be the guy. But, I'm telling you, from the skillset perspective, he's good enough to help Michigan."

Bryce Underwood at QB allows Michigan to access the entirety of what Chip Lindsey's offense is supposed to be. He's your guy day 1.https://t.co/xAtRoHKC8H pic.twitter.com/lX1Eq73Y0B
— J.D. PicKell (@jdpickell) February 6, 2025

PicKell doesn't see any of the Wolverines' other options at quarterback striking fear into opposing defenses the way Underwood would with his dual-threat abilities as a runner and thrower of the football.

"He changes the ceiling of Michigan Football," PicKell said. "Because, if you don't play Bryce Underwood...just say you play someone that's not Bryce Underwood, that can't take off and hurt you from 40 yards deep on the ground game, or doesn't have the same arm strength to push it deep — when you don't have that to worry about as a defense, or when you don't have that as a play-caller for Chip Lindsey, you're not accessing the full powers of what your offense can be.

"Like, the RPO stuff they'll have dialed in to this offense is going to be designed to make defenses worried about the big play, to be worried about the pass behind the ear if they trigger too quickly on the run game. And, if I'm not worried about the guy at quarterback having enough to hurt me from a skillset point of view, then, again, you're not maximizing the offense. You're just running a different kind of offense but still having the same governor that you had on it the year before where you were running so much under-center.

"Bryce Underwood unlocks a lot more explosivity to this offense, he unlocks a lot more multiple options in this offense and they're going to let him cook quite a bit."

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