Newsstand: The Athletic singles out four Michigan underclassmen draft prospects
The Michigan Wolverines enter the 2024 campaign as one of the best teams in college football with a quartet of players consistently named among potential top 2025 NFL Draft picks.
Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic recently put out a list of underclassmen to watch in the 2025 draft cycle that featured four familiar names to Michigan fans.
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Here is his rundown, starting with DT Mason Graham:
At 6-3, 318, Graham plays football like how I imagine an actual bear would. Graham’s combination of grip strength, power and burst has made him a terror on Michigan’s last two defenses. He’s flashed versus every top-tier team he’s faced while winning in different ways.
In 2023, Graham led all FBS underclassmen defensive tackles in win rate (16.4 percent), picking up 29 pressures and three sacks in just 254 reps. For context on Graham’s playing time, 30 DTs played at least 600 snaps last season (Johnny Newton led the FBS with 749).
CB Will Johnson:
Michigan’s most complete cornerback prospect since Charles Woodson, Johnson (6-2, 205) is still working on finer points of press coverage — he’ll sometimes bite on double moves or jump a route too early. Same time, his general movement skills, instincts and size have made him one of college football’s top DBs the last two years.
Johnson is a great zone defender who has played in a highly complex defense and flourished, especially in red-letter games. He’s produced two Big Ten title game picks, one in the national title game and one against Ohio State (while defending Marvin Harrison Jr.).
Loveland felt like a first-round pick last year as a sophomore. An outstanding mover with wiggle and body control, Loveland lined up all over the field and was Michigan’s toughest cover during its national title run.
He still needs to get stronger, and though he improved in this aspect last season, his run blocking can still take another step. Loveland has the potential to be a true three-down tight end with flex and downfield ability.
Defensive tackle Kenneth Grant was named a player to watch but did not get a writeup.
Tweets of the day
Michigan quote of the day
“I want someone I can talk to that’s going to be real to me, tell me the tough things that I don’t want to hear but I need to hear sometimes. And that’s what Dusty did, and that was a big thing for me because I asked a lot of questions, I’m trying to get to the next level. So just me asking a lot of questions and him being able to give me the raw answer is what I was looking for.”
– Michigan point guard transfer Tre Donaldson on what he was looking for out of the program
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