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Why Bryce Underwood is a program-altering commitment for Michigan

charles power hsby:Charles Power•11/21/24•

CharlesPower

Belleville 5-star Bryce Underwood is a Michigan Wolverine.
Belleville 5-star Bryce Underwood is a Michigan Wolverine.

Bryce Underwood, On3’s No. 1 quarterback and overall prospect in the 2025 cycle for going on two years, sent shockwaves throughout college football Thursday evening by flipping his commitment from LSU to Michigan. The Belleville (Mich.) High standout’s flip to the in-state Wolverines capped a weeks long pursuit that included a record-setting NIL package.

A Five-Star Plus+ prospect who ranks as the No. 1 overall prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking, Underwood becomes the highest-rated Michigan commit in the internet recruiting era.

Let’s break down what makes Bryce Underwood a tenure-altering recruit for Sherrone Moore and a potentially program-defining quarterback for Michigan.

Bryce Underwood is an elite arm talent

Bryce Underwood is undoubtedly one of the top arm talents in a very deep 2025 quarterback cycle nationally. We’ve seen him make eye-popping throws on a consistent basis over the past four seasons.

Underwood has explosive arm talent that immediately stood out as a high school underclassman. There has been a legitimate ‘wow factor’ to watching him throw the ball on Friday nights. He employs considerable torque to uncoil his long arms, resulting in a whippy motion that produces very high RPM’s on the football. Quite simply, the ball jumps out of his hand. Underwood is able to touch all areas of the field with his arm strength. He can push the ball vertically 60+ yards downfield and makes far hash throws look routine. The new Michigan commit is equally lethal in working the quick game and RPO’s, with his tight spiral and high spin rate producing rare juice on the tail of his passes.

While Belleville often saw overmatched teams in the regular season, Bryce Underwood has shown the ability to stick the football into tight windows when needed. He’s able to quickly diagnose leverage and has a quick trigger. We saw this on display in his lone appearance on the 7-on-7 circuit this offseason, with Underwood stealing the show at Overtime’s OT7 Orlando Regional. Given his ability to process and play fast, we feel as though he should be able to transition to the uptick in game speed with relative ease.

Run game threat

We long considered Bryce Underwood to be a potential run threat and he showed tantalizing glimpses of big-play ability with the ball in his hands as a senior. He came out of the gates with a huge game on the ground, showing vision, power and the speed to pull away at the second level on designed runs.

While he wasn’t asked to run often, Underwood proved lethal when his number was called, rushing for nine touchdowns at over 11 yards per carry as a senior. That type of rushing ability paired with his elite arm talent makes Bryce Underwood the most versatile quarterback prospect in the 2025 cycle.

Track record on Friday nights

Bryce Underwood is one of the more decorated high school football players from the state of Michigan in recent memory. Over four seasons at Belleville, he led the Tigers to a 49-4 record and two state championships.

In addition to the winning and championships, Underwood re-wrote the individual state record books in the process. He broke the Michigan records for most total touchdowns and passing touchdowns in a high school career early in his senior season.

Underwood finished his illustrious prep career with 10,708 passing yards and 143 passing touchdowns at around 11 yards per passing attempt. He also added 30 more rushing touchdowns, bringing his total touchdown count to 173. No top quarterback in the 2025 cycle has produced better raw stats over the course of their high school career.

Huge long-term upside

Unlike many top quarterback prospects who emerge as high school underclassmen, Bryce Underwood is not an overly polished product who happened to top out early. For starters, he is younger for the cycle, with an August 19 birthday. Underwood will turn 18 years-old just days before his first college game.

Additionally, he measured in at 6-foot-4 and a lean 215 pounds with 10-inch hands at the On3 Elite Series in May, making him one of the more physically imposing quarterbacks in the 2025 cycle. Underwood has grown around an inch over the past year and is continuing to fill out his frame. The belief is that he will ultimately check in at over 6-foot-4 and 230-240 pounds while maintaining his athleticism.

We’ve seen Underwood make strides on the field, as well. He showed improvement in his overall passing mechanics as a senior, throwing with better alignment and posture which contributed to an uptick in accuracy. He also showed increased top-end speed and improved rushing ability, as noted above.

The physical gifts and signs of skill improvement point to a very high long-term upside as he continues to develop.

Bryce Underwood’s impact at Michigan

Bryce Underwood is one of the top quarterback talents to come through high school football in the past five to ten years. The combination of physical talent, on-field resume and upside put him in the conversation with former top prospects like Trevor Lawrence and Caleb Williams – two No. 1 prospects out of high school who ended up being top NFL Draft picks. That’s obviously an extremely high bar to meet. Underwood will need to continue developing at Michigan to do so, but there is no question the talent and upside is there.

Underwood should make an instant impact in Ann Arbor. Given his talent and the state of the Wolverines’ quarterback room, I expect Underwood to be Michigan’s starting quarterback in 2025, likely when they kick off the season against New Mexico.

How Michigan builds around the No. 1 prospect in the 2025 cycle will go a long way in determining how the Wolverines’ fare in the coming years. If recent recruiting wins like Underwood, Andrew Babalola and Shamari Earls are any indication, Sherrone Moore and Michigan are serious about talent acquisition. This recent run and the addition of Bryce Underwood gives the Wolverines the talent behind center to return to the College Football Playoff.