Tag: 2026 season countdown

2026 Season Countdown: #101-105

#101. Christian Pierce – LB – Chicago (IL) Brother Rice: Pierce is a 6’0″, 235 lb. linebacker and the younger brother of fourth-year defensive tackle Trey Pierce. Christian spent last season at Western Illinois and made 100 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 4 pass breakups, and 7 quarterback hurries, so he has a fair amount of playing time for a sophomore linebacker. I have not heard about him being talked up much from spring practices, and the jump from being a Western Illinois Leatherneck to playing in Michigan Stadium is fairly significant. Maybe some more experience at the FBS level will push him up the depth chart in the coming years, but for now, I’m thinking he will be a backup.

#102. Joshua Nichols – CB – Detroit (MI) Renaissance: Nichols is a 5’10”, 205 lb. fifth year senior who has played in just one game during his first four years on campus. After being listed as a safety earlier in his career, he is now listed as a cornerback. We have seen him play a little bit in spring games, and his foot speed is not where it needs to be to play cornerback, so we’re not looking at a walk-on like Keshaun Harris who could be in line for some legitimate playing time. Nichols will possibly be a special teams player or a deep bench player.

#103. James Kavouklis – C/LS – Tampa (FL) Berkeley Prep: Kavouklis is now listed at 6’1″, 295 lbs. and played in one game against Central Michigan in 2025. Long snappers don’t typically play offensive line because they have to get downfield on punt coverage, but Kavouklis is an exception. Michigan has some depth at center and Kavouklis will probably be the #3 long snapper, so he’s unlikely to play much in 2026.

#104. Zach Ludwig – LB – South Park (PA) South Park: Ludwig is a 6’2″, 225 lb. redshirt sophomore who played in one game last season, which was in the blowout of Central Michigan. The nephew of former Michigan strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert, it’s been a little surprising that Ludwig – who didn’t have much of a recruiting profile – has stuck around the past couple seasons. But he has added about 20 pounds in the past couple years and is approaching a playable linebacker weight. He will most likely be buried down the depth chart, but he enters year three actually looking like a linebacker.

#105. Bryce Wilcox – WR – Sharpsburg (GA) Trinity Christian: Gosh darn it, I have been in Wilcox’s fan club since he came out of high school, and now it’s year five for him and he hasn’t played much at all. He’s now listed at 5’11” and 191 lbs. and was named the Special Teams Scout Team Player of the Year in 2025. Maybe playing receiver isn’t in the cards, but I’m hoping for Wilcox to have one of those walk-on moments in 2026 where he recovers a blocked punt for a touchdown or something like that.

2026 Season Countdown: #106-110

#105. John Weidenbach – LB – Naperville (IL) Benet Academy: Weidenbach is a 6’0″, 215 lb. redshirt junior who has been on the team for the past three seasons. He saw his first game action in 2025, playing some linebacker against Central Michigan in the 63-3 blowout. Weidenbach won’t play a meaningful role in 2026, but he could be in line for some garbage time opportunities.

#106. Kaleb Schlecht – WR – Ann Arbor (MI) Skyline: Schlecht is a 6’4″, 205 lb. wideout who saw his first playing time against Central Michigan in 2025. He has good size, but even going back to high school, his speed and athleticism didn’t indicate an FBS contributor. He may be able to play some as a blocking wideout, but Michigan seems to have enough bodies at wide receiver to keep Schlecht on the sideline.

#107. Ndi Etta – LB – Keller (TX) Liberty Christian: Etta is the 6’2″, 215 lb. younger brother of Michigan defensive tackle Enow Etta. Michigan jumped into his recruitment late and landed him over a few MAC schools and Sacramento State. Ndi lacks the quick twitch ability of a true linebacker, and he doesn’t have the size to contribute at defensive end right now, so this is almost certainly going to be a developmental year. Perhaps he can contribute down the road, but we will see how his body develops. Enow grew from a good-sized edge prospect into a good looking defensive tackle, so there is a family history of packing on good weight.

#108. Tommy Fraumann – OT – Wilmette (IL) Loyola: Fraumann is a true freshman whom Michigan flipped from Miami-OH. While he was listed at 6’8″ and 255-265 lbs. as a recruit, he is reportedly around 280 lbs. now. That still makes him unplayable at offensive tackle, but he’s inching toward a respectable size. Michigan has not had great luck with super tall offensive tackles over the years, but occasionally you get a Taylor Lewan, which can be fun.

#109. Sam Baron – CB – Cadillac (MI) Lake Area: Baron is a 6’1″, 188 lb. redshirt junior who just joined the football team as a walk-on in the spring. His father Phil played football at Michigan State back in the day, but his mom – who must be an awesome person – attended Michigan. It’s very unlikely that someone who hasn’t played football in three years will make any contributions, but as a more mature team member, maybe some opportunities can arise.

2026 Season Countdown: #111-115

#111. Hunter Robertson – P – Huntington Woods (MI) Berkley: Robertson is a 6’4″, 205 lb. punter who transferred to Michigan from Clarion prior to last season. He got in one game as a backup holder, but he seems to have at least two punters ahead of him in the forms of Cam Brown and Hudson Hollenbeck. He has some experience at the D-II level with punting, placekicking, and kicking off, so perhaps he can help as a holder, kickoff specialist, or backup in some way.

#112. Gary Stacy – RB – Grosse Pointe Woods (MI) Liggett: Stacy is a 6’1″, 202 lb. walk-on who will be a redshirt freshman this fall. He scored 37 touchdowns over his final two seasons of high school football. His highlights are kind of a fun watch, and I see some potential there to possibly be a special teams player, fullback, or linebacker. He’s too thin at this point to do much of anything this fall, but if he can stick around for a couple years and add 20 pounds of muscle, he might be able to bring something to the team on Saturdays.

#113. Adam Bazzi – LB – Rochester Hills (MI) Stoney Creek: The 5’11”, 205 lb. redshirt sophomore was a walk-on for Michigan’s team in 2025 but did not see any game action. Bazzi made 84 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks as a senior in high school a few years ago, but his film doesn’t indicate that he will much of a factor for the Wolverines.

#114. Eli Musmand – DE – Brooklyn (NY) Poly Prep Country Day: Musmand is a second-year student who is listed as a 6’3″, 223 lb. defensive end. He joined the program this spring. While his high school film from a couple seasons ago shows a high-effort player, he is limited athletically and obviously has a lot of weight to add before he could be trusted to hold up for a Big Ten team.

#115. Peter Donini – OT – Summit (NJ) Delbarton: Donini is another walk-on this spring and is a 6’7″, 270 lb. true freshman. He’s a thrower for Michigan’s track and field team, so there is some quality athleticism there, but a 270-pounder isn’t anywhere close to playing offensive line for the University of Michigan at this point.

2026 Season Countdown: #116-117

#116. Brady Smigiel – QB – Thousand Oaks (CA) Newbury Park: The 6’5″, 215 lb. freshman quarterback injured his knee during his senior season of high school and is very likely to redshirt during his first year on campus. Ranked as a 4-star, the #26 quarterback, and #406 overall in the 247 Composite, he completed 64.4% of his passes as a senior for 1,634 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions in six games before getting hurt. I think Smigiel is a fine athlete with a solid arm, but I am concerned about how slow his footwork can be when getting into position to throw, and the ball gets to his receivers too late. Regardless of how developed he is overall, he’s unlikely to play in

#117. Micah Ka’apana – RB – Las Vegas (NV) Bishop Gorman: Ka’apana had been heading into the 2026 season with the possibility of being the #3 or #4 back, but a spring leg injury ended his season before it began. Head coach Kyle Whittingham announced during spring ball that Ka’apana had suffered an injury and would miss the entire year. Totaling 10 carries for 38 yards and 1 catch for 8 yards in 2025, Ka’apana would have been battling freshman Savion Hiter and former walk-on Bryson Kuzdzal for playing time. With Hiter, Kuzdzal, and starter Jordan Marshall, Michigan has a solid top three, but the things veer into unknown territory with unproven players like redshirt freshman Donovan Johnson and true freshman Jonathan Brown.

The 2026 Season Countdown is Coming!

Every year since 2009, I have counted down from the least important player on that year’s roster to the most important player, including starters, scholarship players, preferred walk-ons, special teams players, student body walk-ons, and everyone in between.

YEARLY DISCLAIMER: The countdown is by the player’s importance to the team, not his overall talent. A talented player at a deep position won’t necessarily be missed a lot if he gets injured, but an injury to a moderately talented player at a thin position could be devastating. For example, I had cornerback Ambry Thomas ranked at #2 in 2020 because he was the team’s only proven cornerback. Naturally, he opted out of the season and the team as a whole was an unmitigated disaster. Meanwhile, first round pick Kwity Paye was #6 because more talent was returning on the defensive line.

TEMPORARY DISCLAIMER: As many might have noticed, posting has slowed here for personal reasons. Not because of any loss of passion, but due to limited time/energy. I will probably never return to the point of posting multiple times per day like I did in some years past, but my goal is to return to daily posting – not yet, but in time. As such, I will be starting the countdown in a condensed fashion with some of the lower ranked players being combined into chunks of players.

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