FORMER PLAYERS
Devon Baxter, DE (Virginia): Baxter made 1 tackle, 0.5 tackles for loss, and 1 pass breakup in week zero against North Carolina State.
Jeremiah Beasley, LB (Missouri): Beasley made 7 tackles in a 54-14 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Tristan Bounds, OT (Arizona): Bounds is the starting right tackle for Arizona.
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Here’s the scoop on 77 former Michigan Wolverines players, how their 2025 went, and where they are for 2026.
FORMER PLAYERS
Raheem Anderson, C (Western Michigan): Anderson concluded his college football career by becoming an All-MAC center for the Broncos in 2025.
Andrel Anthony, WR (Duke): Anthony concluded his college football career by catching 26 passes for 246 yards and 5 touchdowns for the Blue Devils in 2025. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Atlanta Falcons.
Devon Baxter, DE (Virginia): Baxter is a 6’6″, 247 lb. redshirt sophomore for his first season at Virginia.
Jeremiah Beasley, LB (Missouri): Beasley made 19 tackles and 1 forced fumble in 2025 and is penciled in as a backup linebacker for the 2026 season.
Josh Beetham, TE (Georgia Tech): Beetham started five games and played in all thirteen in 2025, making 6 catches for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns altogether.
Kechaun Bennett, DE (UCLA): Bennett transferred to UCLA for his final college season and made 25 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 quarterback hurry while playing in eleven games.
Christian Boivin, LB (Saginaw Valley State): Boivin transferred to Division II SVSU and made 105 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, and 1 forced fumble in 2025.
Tristan Bounds, OT (Arizona): Bounds started eight games for Arizona in 2025 and is expected to be the starting right tackle in 2026. He’s listed at 6’8″, 306 lbs. going into his sixth year.
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Redshirt sophomore defensive end Aymeric Koumba is entering the transfer portal.
Listed at 6’5″ and 260 pounds, Koumba played in one game in each of the past two seasons. Coming out of France in 2023, he was always considered to be a project. He was consistently mentioned as a guy who should be “the first guy off the bus” because of his physique, but obviously his play on the field never matched his appearance.
Koumba was a part of an intriguing edge rusher class in 2023, but the excitement from that class has largely fizzled. Enow Etta has bulked up to play defensive tackle, and both Breeon Ishmail and Jason Hewlett have also hit the transfer portal. The lone remaining edge player is Cameron Brandt, who has shown flashes and should be a key backup in 2025 after notching 3 sacks in 2024.
Former defensive line coach Mike Elston recruited Koumba and others to Michigan, but Elston followed Jim Harbaugh to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Koumba was a 3-star, the #81 edge, and #845 overall in the class of 2023.
RETURNING PLAYERS: Kechaun Bennett (RS Sr.), Rayshaun Benny (RS Sr.), T.J. Guy (RS Sr.), Ike Iwunnah (RS Sr.), Tyler McLaurin (RS Sr.), Derrick Moore (Sr.), Chibi Anwunah (RS Jr.), Joey Klunder (RS Jr.), Alessandro Lorenzetti (RS Jr.), Trey Pierce (Jr.), Enow Etta (RS So.), Aymeric Koumba (RS So.), Devon Baxter (RS Fr.), Edgard Lugopayi (RS Fr.), Dominic Nichols (RS Fr.)
NEWCOMERS: Damon Payne (RS Sr.), Tre Williams (RS Sr.), Julius Holly (Fr.), Travis Moten (Fr.)
DEPARTURES: Mason Graham (NFL Draft), Kenneth Grant (NFL Draft), Josaiah Stewart (NFL Draft)
OUTLOOK:Â Ahhhhh . . . defensive line. This is the place where Michigan fans can all take a deep breath of the happy, fresh air, where things are all fine and dandy. Michigan has had a long line of quality defensive linemen who have been fun to watch, going back years, including Chase Winovich, Maurice Hurst Jr., Ryan Glasgow, Kwity Paye, etc. More recently, we’ve seen Aidan Hutchinson, David Ojabo, Kenneth Grant, Josaiah Stewart, and Mason Graham star on the defensive line. Last year it was Graham and Grant – both of whom are projected to be 1st rounders – who really held down the middle of the line, stymying Ohio State’s rushing attack and helping Michigan preserve that sweet, sweet, 13-10 victory.
This year Michigan might have to hold its breath a little bit.
With Graham and Grant off to the NFL, Michigan has to hope someone will develop at defensive tackle who doesn’t have a great track record yet. Rayshaun Benny has already played great at times, and barring injury, he should once again be a force. Otherwise, it will be up to fifth year senior Ike Iwunnah (7 tackles, 1 tackle for loss in 2024), junior Trey Pierce (7 tackles), redshirt sophomore Enow Etta (4 tackles, 0.5 sacks), and a couple transfers to get it done inside. Luckily, the transfers were pretty good recruits. On the not-so-great side, they weren’t super productive at their previous stops. Alabama transfer Damon Payne (14 tackles, 0.5 sacks) and Clemson transfer Tre Williams (14 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks) are not stars like Graham and Grant, but they’re veteran additions.
The most impressive aspect and the biggest sign for hope is that this is a veteran-heavy position group. Altogether, the defensive line room boasts seven (7!!!) fifth-year seniors and four fourth-year players, the latter group including a couple former walk-ons in Joey Klunder and Chibi Anwunah. At a position in the trenches where physical maturity is at a premium, if you can’t win with pure talent, it’s at least good to have size, strength, and mental maturity.
On the edges, Michigan will miss Josaiah Stewart, an undersized player who won a ton of his matchups and played tougher than his 6’1″, 245 lb. frame would indicate. But rising senior Derrick Moore (23 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 2 sacks) and fifth year senior T.J. Guy (32 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks) both played well in the bowl game against Alabama; Moore came on in that game after being pretty quiet throughout the regular season, but Guy was solid for most of the year. Those two players should lead the way, but Michigan did not land any reinforcements in the transfer portal and will need to count on some young players to rotate in and find some success.
Redshirt sophomore Aymeric Koumba looks the part, and Michigan brought in a really talented trio in 2024 with Lugard Edokpayi, Devon Baxter, and Dominic Nichols. Nichols looked like he belonged, making 3 tackles in five games (one was the bowl game, so he preserved his redshirt). But there’s plenty of opportunity here for help at the edge positions to step up in the spring and stake a claim for playing time this fall.
Overall, this is a veteran group that should be solid and deep. In fact, I can’t think of a Michigan team that has had this much experience. The real question is the top-end talent and whether someone who will step up who can make consistent big plays in crunch time, something guys like Mason Graham, Josaiah Stewart, Aidan Hutchinson, and others have been able to do.
Name:Â Aymeric Koumba
Height: 6’5″
Weight:Â 260 lbs.
High school:Â Bordeaux (France) Lycee Alfred Kastler
Position:Â Defensive end
Class:Â Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #90
Last year:Â I ranked Koumba #130 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He played in one game.
TTB Rating:Â 73
Koumba was very raw coming out of France last year, and it was reflected in the amount of playing time he got: he played in the first game of the year, against East Carolina. Most freshmen aren’t going to play a ton, but especially guys in the trenches who come from Europe.
Not much practice buzz came out of Schembechler Hall about Koumba, but he supposedly got up to 265 pounds this off-season before being listed at 260 on the fall camp roster. He looked thin as a recruit, but now people like Sam Webb are saying Koumba looks like the type of guy you would want to be “first off the bus.” At 6’5″ and 260 pounds, he’s roughly the same height and weight as Braiden McGregor and Aiden Hutchinson, two other guys who would have been “first off the bus” material.
Whether Koumba plays or not is a different story. Michigan’s top three edge players are Josaiah Stewart, Derrick Moore, and probably T.J. Guy, but Koumba might be in the running to be that fourth or fifth guy, along with someone like Cameron Brandt. I wouldn’t expect him to ascend to fourth just yet, but Brandt got 60 snaps in 2023 and Kechaun Bennett got 32. That’s the type of role that Koumba has a chance to fill in 2024.
Prediction: Backup defensive end