Fort Myers (FL) Bishop Verot quarterback Carter Smith decommitted from Michigan on Wednesday. He had been committed to the Wolverines since June and was doing a good job of spearheading the 2025 class, but circumstances have changed since he pledged to the Wolverines.
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Overland Park (KS) Blue Valley Northwest offensive tackle Andrew Babalola committed to Michigan on October 21. He picked the Wolverines over Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Stanford, among others.
Babalola is listed at 6’6″ and 280 pounds.
RANKINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 87 grade, #8 OT, #27 overall
On3: 5-star, 98 grade, #3 OT, #11 overall
Rivals: 4-star, 5.9 grade, #9 OT, #63 overall
247 Sports: 5-star, 98 grade, #2 OT, #11 overall
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Here’s a roundup of the former Michigan player, former commits, and former coaches (or players-turned-coaches). NOTE: I will not regularly post updates about offensive linemen since stats are minimal and just posting PFF grades is kind of boring, but I did this week just to show who’s playing where and what their opening day role was.
FORMER PLAYERS
WR Andrel Anthony (Oklahoma): Anthony has not played since week one due to an injury.
LB Jeremiah Beasley (Missouri): Beasley did not record any stats in a 34-0 loss to Alabama.
QB Alan Bowman (Oklahoma State): Bowman completed 28/42 passes for 359 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception, but the Cowboys suffered their fifth straight loss, this one a 38-28 setback to Baylor.
LB Semaj Bridgeman (Michigan State): Bridgeman has not recorded any stats yet this year for MSU.
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All hail Davis Warren! I’m not going to pretend that Davis Warren is on track to be J.J. McCarthy, but Warren played his best game of the year in going 13/19 for 123 yards, 1 touchdown, and 0 interceptions. He did not take any sacks and scrambled once for 7 yards. I mentioned on Twitter (before I knew Jack Tuttle would miss the game) that if I were Michigan’s coaching staff, I would start Warren and mix in Alex Orji on every third series. Warren got a bad rap early in the year when he made mistakes while other people (Donovan Edwards, Evan Link, Colston Loveland, etc.) were screwing up; Warren took the blame for the team being bad. Now that the offensive line has improved some and other players have adjusted, Warren looks okay. He’s not a world-beater, but the kid can play a little bit. I’m happy for him that he got a little bit of redemption. Nobody will ever be able to take away the fact that he quarterbacked Michigan to a rivalry victory over Michigan State.
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RUSH OFFENSE vs. MSU RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan is a disappointing 45th in rushing offense (180.3 yards/game) despite being unable to do the whole passing thing well. They average 4.76 yards/carry, which ties them for 54th nationally. Kalel Mullings (110 carries, 676 yards, 7 TD) is the leader in the backfield, while backup Donovan Edwards (80 carries, 391 yards, 3 TD) gave up his second fumble of the season last Saturday. It might be worth mentioning QB Alex Orji, too, who has not played for the majority of the past two games (he played three series against Washington) but who has 35 carries for 124 yards this year. With the turnovers given up by QB Jack Tuttle over the past couple weeks, the staff may work in Orji a little more. Michigan had three new starters on the offensive line last week with Jeff Persi at LT, Greg Crippen at C, and Andrew Gentry at RT, but starting LT Myles Hinton – Michigan’s best lineman – may return on Saturday. Defensively, Michigan State is #53 in rushing defense (131.1 yards/game) and #46 in yards allowed per carry (3.78). The last three teams MSU has played have averaged over 5.2 yards/carry, but two of those are top-five teams in Ohio State and Oregon, and the third was Iowa, which has a pretty solid running back in Kaleb Johnson; Johnson had 14 carries for 98 yards and 1 score, but one of those carries was a 75-yard touchdown, so his other 13 attempts went for 23 yards. The leading tackler is senior Wisconsin transfer Jordan Turner, a Farmington High School product, who is a 6’1″, 231 lb. middle linebacker with 43 stops. Next is fifth year senior LB Cal Haladay (6’1″, 233) with 34 tackles and then junior UCF transfer strong safety Nikai Martinez (5’11”, 191) with 31. Former Michigan DT commit Alex Van Sumeren (6’3″, 300) and fifth year senior D’Quan Douse (6’2″, 300) start at defensive tackle, but the Spartans rotate a lot of players in the front seven to keep them fresh. I do think Michigan can have success on the ground . . . if they use Kalel Mullings and Alex Orji appropriately, which is unfortunately a question mark.
Advantage: Michigan
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