$10 Million QB Has 'Enormous Upside' With Major College Football Program

A starting quarterback at a Power Four college football program has "enormous upside" entering the 2026 season.

Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) runs with the ball after breaking a tackle against the Texas Longhorns | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

The opening weekend of the 2026 college football season sits right around six months away from the beginning of March.

The 2026 season will feature a large number of stars returning from a season ago, but it leaves plenty of room for new stars to emerge. One potent player hoping to turn a corner in 2026 is Michigan starting quarterback Bryce Underwood, who enters his second season as the Wolverines' starter.

The 6-foot-4, 228-pounder was the most prized prospect in the 2025 college football recruiting. 247Sports ranked Underwood as both the No. 1 quarterback and No. 1 overall player in the class of 2025.

Aside from the ranking, the story around his commitment made his recruitment all the more intriguing. He originally committed to LSU in January of 2024 but flipped his commitment to Michigan in late November. Underwood cited a desire to play in his home state as a reason for the flip, but he also signed an eight-figure NIL deal with the Wolverines around the time of the flip.

The Wolverines finished with a 9-4 overall record in Underwood's first season as their starter. He finished the year with 2,428 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions while rushing for 392 yards and six more touchdowns.

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) makes a pass against Washington during the first half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Michigan was one of 34 programs involved in the chaotic 2025-2026 college football head coaching carousel.

The Wolverines fired head coach Sherrone Moore in December for cause, replacing him with longtime Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham. As it relates to Underwood's development, Whittingham shed light on the fact that he was lacking an attentive quarterback coach in his first year at Michigan on a January edition of "The Triple Option" podcast.

"From what I understand, there was no dedicated quarterback coach working with him on a daily basis, which has to happen," Whittingham said.

"You've got a young man that's 17 years old, he didn't turn 18 until mid-season, and he's a guy that really could've been in high school last year as far as his age. There's some things in throwing mechanics that need to smooth out in his fundamentals and technique."

Underwood is poised to take a step forward with Jason Beck as Michigan's new offensive coordinator. Adam Kramer of Bleacher Report listed the 2025 unveiled a list of the 25 best quarterbacks in college football on Friday. Kramer ranked Underwood as the No. 21 quarterback heading into 2026, listing him as the top quarterback in a group of former five-stars with "enormous upside."

"For Bryce Underwood, who will now play for a new head coach and a new OC at Michigan, it would be shocking if he wasn't approaching superstar status by Thanksgiving," Kramer wrote.

Underwood is the highest-ranked quarterback in the "enormous upside" tier. The quarterbacks behind him are Noah Fifita of Arizona, Devon Dampier of Utah, Conner Weigman of Houston and Nick Minicucci of Delaware.