ESPN: Michigan football QB situation in same tier as Ohio State, Notre Dame
The Michigan Wolverines went all-out to fix their quarterback situation ahead of the 2025 season with the addition of No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Underwood and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene. According to ESPN, their work put them in the same tier as Ohio State and Notre Dame, the two teams that played for the College Football Playoff National Championship last season.
ESPN’s David Hale ranked every quarterback situation in the country heading into the summer. Michigan was placed in Tier 4, titled “The young pups.”
Ohio State’s battle between Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz, Notre Dame’s between CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey and Washington’s between Demond Williams Jr. and Kai Horton were singled out along with Michigan’s Underwood/Keene platoon.
Here’s what Hale wrote about the situation:
Four schools with playoff hopes turn to young QBs with elite recruiting backgrounds. Not long ago, this wouldn’t seem like a wild premise, but in the era of the transfer portal, the notion that programs with as much talent as Notre Dame or Ohio State are putting their fates into the hands of QBs with no on-field experience feels akin to handing your teenager, who has his learner’s permit, the keys to your new Ferrari.
QB comparison
QB A: 82.9 QBR, 68% completions, 8.6 yards per pass, 4.4 touchdown-to-interception ratio
QB B: 66.2 QBR, 59.8% completions, 7.3 yards per pass, 1.9 touchdown-to-interception ratio
QB A is Michigan’s passing rates in 2022 and 2023, largely buoyed by J.J. McCarthy. QB B is Michigan’s passing every other year of the playoff era. Last season was defined by woeful QB play, but the Wolverines are betting they’ve found another star in Underwood, and even if he doesn’t blossom immediately, Keene seems to be an upgrade from anyone they relied on in 2024.
Underwood is expected to start for Michigan this fall, but is still coming into his own as a true freshman learning the offense and leading the team. Head coach Sherrone Moore said that work continues to come along heading into the summer.
“He’s a young guy, he’s talented, he’s got ability, and obviously he’s got the high ranking, but he’s still got to work to be great, to be where he wants to be,” Moore said after spring ball wrapped up. “So all those little things that you got to do to be a great quarterback, it’s a lot more than just throwing it down the field. It’s processing pre-snap and post-snap. So he’s got to continue to work on that.”
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Michigan is not in a rush to name a starting quarterback ahead of fall camp, nor do they have a criteria or timeline set. According to Moore, it will be based on feel and when the imported boxes get checked.
“As far as fall camp, I think there’s just a feeling you kind of know where the team is, they’re with somebody, and they’re grasped by somebody,” Moore said. “And obviously they’ve made all the throws, they’ve met the reads, the completions, but they kind of become the leader of the team. You know, we always talk about the offensive line running the team, but someone’s got to lead it. And you’ll know at some point who that person is.”
