Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei RB Jordon Davison (image via John Bowers)
2025
Spencer Beckeman – OT – Rochester (MI) Stoney Creek: Beckeman is a 6’6″, 280 lb. prospect with offers from a handful of MAC and Ivy League teams.
Michael Carroll – OT – Doylestown (PA) Central Bucks East: Carroll is a 6’5″, 290-pounder with offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Penn State, Texas, and USC, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #15 offensive tackle, and #243 overall.
Jordon Davison – RB – Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei: Davison is a 5’11”, 203 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, USC, and lots of others. He’s a 4-star, the #7 running back, and #83 overall. New running backs coach Tony Alford was recruiting him to Ohio State and now is trying to pull him in for the Wolverines.
Rising sophomore wide receiver Karmello English is no longer a part of Michigan’s football program and is headed to the transfer portal. English played in six games last season. He caught 1 pass for a 4-yard touchdown and returned 1 punt for 8 yards.
English was a 4-star, the #26 wide receiver, and #189 overall in the class of 2023. I gave him a TTB Rating of 82 (LINK).
English was the highest rated of Michigan’s three wide receivers in 2023 (four if you include QB-turned-WR Kendrick Bell), but he was very clearly the lowest on the depth chart (except for Bell). Fellow freshman Semaj Morgan became a key component of the offense down the stretch, and classmate Frederick Moore played quite a bit as well. Meanwhile, English played in just six games, none of them after October. Perhaps the depth chart was an issue, and perhaps English just wants to play closer to home.
Michigan lost two receivers to the NFL this off-season (Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson) and isn’t bringing in any game-ready prospects in 2024, so I assume the Wolverines will be in the market for a receiver or two via the transfer portal. Channing Goodwin and I’Marion Stewart are both solid prospects, but neither one is expected to be an immediate star. While Tyler Morris and Morgan have both shown promise, the receiving corps is made up of mostly small wideouts who are short and intermediate targets, but the downfield speed and size are somewhat lacking with this roster.
English is the second member of the 2023 class to depart, following cornerback Cam Calhoun, who transferred to Utah.
Vero Beach (FL) Vero Beach linebacker Tarvos “T.J.” Alford (4-star, #8 LB, #63 overall) was offered by Michigan. Florida State, Miami, and Ohio State are all in line to get official visits, and his lone crystal ball pick is in favor of the home state Florida Gators. But Brian Jean-Mary extended an offer for Michigan shortly after being hired, and with the new rule that players can take as many officials as they want, there’s still plenty of room for Michigan to make a move. Alford is planning to announce his decision on March 30, but all three of his scheduled officials are for after that date.
Quitman (MS) Quitman running back Akylin Dear (4-star, #2 RB, #32 overall) was offered by brand new running backs coach Tony Alford, who had been recruiting Dear to Ohio State. He’s a 6’1″, 200 lb. back with offers from virtually every big-time program across the country, including Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, and Texas. He also holds offers from the two in-state schools in Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
Loxahatchee (FL) Seminole Ridge linebacker Ty Jackson (4-star, #15 LB, #105 overall) was offered by Michigan. Another Jean-Mary attempt, Jackson also has offers from Florida State, Georgia, Penn State, and Tennessee, among others; FSU, PSU, and UT are all supposed to get officials. Jackson has totaled 378 tackles in his three-year varsity career, along with 15 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, and 4 interceptions.
2023 Starters: MLB Junior Colson, WLB Michael Barrett Losses: Colson (NFL), Barrett (NFL) Returning players: Jaydon Hood (RS Jr.), Ernest Hausmann (Jr.), Micah Pollard (Jr.), Jimmy Rolder (RS So.), Semaj Bridgeman (RS Fr.), Jason Hewlett (RS Fr.), Hayden Moore (RS Fr.) Newcomers: Jaishawn Barham (Jr.), Jeremiah Beasley (Fr.), Cole Sullivan (Fr.) Projected starters: MLB Barham, WLB Hausmann
With the prevalence of the nickel position, linebacker has been somewhat de-emphasized in recent years. A position group that used to play three guys is now primarily whittled down to two. Michigan had a very good two in 2023 in Junior Colson and Michael Barrett, but both are off to the NFL. Both have had very different paths, with Colson playing three years – two as a starter – and Barrett bouncing around between running back, slot receiver, Viper, and weakside linebacker.
Michigan will have two new starting faces at linebacker in 2024, and both of them are transfers who previously wore red. Barham is a two-year starter at Maryland whom the Wolverines poached this off-season. Hausmann started as a freshman at Nebraska in 2022 before joining the Wolverines in 2023, rotating heavily with Colson and Barrett as basically a third starter. So while both will be new starters at Michigan, they have three combined years of starting and another year of heavily involvement out of four college seasons. That’s a ton of experience for two “new” starters and should help Michigan’s defense succeed in 2024.
The backup situation is a little murkier, especially with a new defensive coordinator (Wink Martindale) and a new linebackers coach (Brian Jean-Mary). Jimmy Rolder got a lot of experience in 2022 before playing sparingly in 2023 in the hopes of preserving his redshirt, which was a successful endeavor. Rolder seems like the most likely guy to emerge as a rotational guy or primary backup in 2024. Meanwhile, Jaydon Hood is a fourth-year player who was recruited by Jean-Mary to Michigan out of high school; some suspected Hood would have left by now with no clear path to playing time, but he’s still wearing a winged helmet.
Junior Micah Pollard has played a ton of special teams and some in a backup role, but the rest of the guys are total unknowns on the college level. Semaj Bridgeman, Jason Hewlett, and Hayden Moore all redshirted in 2023, and Michigan gets two early enrollees involved this spring with in-state product Jeremiah Beasley and Pennsylvanian Cole Sullivan. There are way too many players (10) in the linebacker room to support just two starting spots, so this is a position group that will certainly be thinned out by transfers within the next couple years. But for now, it will be interesting to see who could eventually step in, because both Barham and Hausmann could conceivably jump to the NFL with solid seasons in 2024.
Indianapolis (IN) Warren Central DE Damien Shanklin (image via Hudl)
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2025
Andrew Babalola – OT – Overland Park (KS) Blue Valley Northwest: Babalola is a 6’6″, 280 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, and Oregon, among others. He’s a 5-star, the #5 offensive tackle, and #26 overall. The only official visit he has scheduled so far has been to Oklahoma.
JaDon Blair – S – Winston Salem (NC) Mount Tabor: Blair is a 6’4″, 190-pounder with offers from Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech, all of whom have scheduled official visits coming. Michigan’s official is set for June 14. Blair is a 4-star, the #13 safety, and #143 overall.
