Stanford Lands Former Michigan Quarterback in Transfer Portal

Stanford's latest addition represents a fairly big upgrade to their current options

Michigan quarterback Davis Warren (16) celebrates a first down against Ohio State during the second half at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The long search is over, and Stanford has found their man under center. According to a report from Pete Thamel of ESPN, former Michigan QB Davis Warren has committed to Stanford. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

Sources: Former Michigan QB Davis Warren has committed to Stanford. He started a majority of the 2024 season at Michigan. He’s expected to have two years remaining. https://t.co/xCNG0IsHFo

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 7, 2026

The three-star quarterback spent most of his 2024 campaign under center for Michigan, playing in nine games for the Wolverines, and completing 134-of-209 passes for 1,199 yards. That's good for a completion percentage of 64.1%, which paired with a 114.7 rating and a 55.9 QBR. He threw seven interceptions and nine interceptions that same season.

He missed the 2025 campaign due to a knee injury, though he's expected to receive a medical redshirt for the year, preserving his two years of eligibility. He will seemingly become the frontrunner for the starting role under center on The Farm in 2026.

Back in Michigan, Bryce Underwood seemed to take over the QB role in his freshman season, completing 60.3% of his passes for 2,438 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Warren's status was uncertain, which led him to the transfer portal, and now, Stanford.

Back in March of 2019, Warren was feeling run down, so his dad took him to the ER where they discovered that he had an abnormally high white blood cell count, including the presence of irregular myeloid cells, called blast cells—a marker for leukemia. A bone marrow test confirmed that he had acute myeloid leukemia. There is an article on the whole diagnosis and recovery process over at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles website.

That one detail is going to make it easy for the Cardinal faithful to root for Warren in 2026, and could even lead to him being a fan favorite.

It also won't hurt that he graded out fairly well at QB with Michigan back in 2024. According to his PFF+ numbers, Warren held a 71.8 OFF grade (grade for offense), and a 70.6 grade for passing. This includes games against Alabama and Oregon at home and Ohio State on the road.

By comparison, Elijah Brown, who would seemingly be the frontrunner for the quarterback job for the Cardinal otherwise, finished with a 56.1 OFF grade, and a 55.8 passing grade this past season. Ben Gulbranson was in a similar area, finishing with a 49.4 OFF and a 48.6 passing grade.

Stanford is also hosting cornerback Leroy Bryant on Wednesday, according to his socials.

Lets us know what you think of the Cardinal landing Davis Warren!

How do we feel about Davis Warren??

— Stanford on SI (@StanfordonSI) January 7, 2026