The Most Underrated Player At Each Offensive Position For Michigan Heading Into Spring Practice

Spring practice for Michigan is scheduled to start on March 17th. It will be a new era for the Wolverines as new Head Coach Kyle Whittingham has taken over for Sherrone Moore. He also brought with him two new coordinators and a whole new coaching staff, except for the lone holdover, Tony Alford. Bryce Underwood will be back to lead the offense into the new era, but who might some underrated players be for Michigan's offense as they head into spring practice? Let's dive into that more below.

Quarterback: Colin Hurley

At one point in time, Colin Hurley was a 5-star QB prospect in high school. Then he ended up reclassifying from the class of 2025 to the class of 2024, and he started college classes at just 16 years old when he enrolled at LSU. He was a former Elite 11 standout as well, which shows that amongst his peers he was a very advanced QB coming out of high school despite his young age.

Now at Michigan as an 18-year old redshirt Freshman, I think people may be sleeping on how talented and young he still is. Being 18 as a redshirt Freshman is extremely rare, as most college players don't even enter college until they're 18 or 19 but he's already got one year of practicing against college players under his belt at LSU.

There's no reason to believe he's any less talented than he was two years ago as a high school recruit, and he's probably just now coming into his own physically. He's got as much arm strength as you could want a QB to have and he's got some mobility to him as well. With 4 more years left of college eligibility, I'm betting he'll make his mark on a program at some point yet during his college career, and it might even be at Michigan once Bryce Underwood inevitably leaves.

Don't sleep on Colin Hurley because of his age and the lack of fanfare he received when he entered the transfer portal, he's still a very talented player in his own right.

Running Back: Bryson Kuzdzal

Bryson Kuzdzal played some key snaps for Michigan down the stretch last year when Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall were both hurt. As a former walk-on, people will likely always sleep on Kuzdzal to some degree but he's a good player.

He briefly entered the transfer portal this off-season to test the waters and reportedly heard from multiple other Power Five programs who would allow him the chance to start for them. He ultimately decided to come back to Michigan because he's an in-state kid who loved his experience thus far at Michigan.

He'll come back to a backfield still featuring Jordan Marshall at the top, but also welcomes a 5-star recruit in Savion Hiter as well. With the other two players taking up a lot more of the oxygen from this room, I think people will end up sleeping on Bryson Kuzdzal.

He'll enter spring practice as RB2 and may eventually lose that role to Hiter, but even then I expect him to play in almost every game for Michigan this year and may end up playing key snaps again if someone gets hurt.

Wide Receiver: Jaime Ffrench

Jaime Ffrench was a top 100 recruit when he chose to go to Texas out of high school. He was in the same class as Andrew Marsh and was even ranked ahead of him as a recruit. After just one year of redshirting at Texas, he transfers to Michigan to play next to Marsh and I believe he'll end up making a big impact for this offense.

He's a 6'1" wide receiver who's not necessarily a burner but he's strong at the catch point and plays bigger than he's listed, which is a nice compliment for a wide receiver. He should emerge as WR3 on this Michigan team in 2026 behind Marsh and fellow transfer JJ Buchanan, but he's got as much talent as any of them, and if he takes a step forward this year, this wide receiver core at Michigan could be very tough to defend in 2026.

Tight End: Hogan Hansen

Hogan Hansen has had an up and down career so far at Michigan. He emerged playing important snaps for the 2024 Michigan team when Colston Loveland was a bit dinged up, fairly seemlessly stepping into that role for a few games and looking the part of a future pass-catching star for Michigan.

Then he was expected to take a step forward into a more prominent role in 2025 but injuries plagued him for much of the season and he never really got going. Now as a third year player entering 2026, I'm expecting him to emerge as real pass-catching threat for the Wolverines. He's got NFL upside at TE if he can stay healthy and keep getting better, and I think he makes a big impact for this offense in 2026.

Offensive Line: Blake Frazier

At offensive line you could go with a number of different players, but I think Blake Frazier is being underrated by Michigan football fans entering spring practice. He's likely ticketed for a starting spot on the Michigan offensive line in 2026 but the big question will be, where at?

He stepped in for the injured Evan Link at Left Tackle in 2025 and looked good there for the most part. He needs to keep adding weight to his frame as he got bull-rushed against some of the stronger Big Ten defensive linemen who lined up against him in 2025 but he looked the part athletically out at LT.

With another year to add weight and strength to his very athletic frame, I'm betting on a big 2026 season for Blake Frazier. Where he ends up slotting in at for this OL will be something to watch as he's got enough versatility to play legitimately all 5 spots, but without a doubt I believe he'll be one of Michigan's best offensive lineman in 2026.