Tag: Brady Norton

2026 Season Countdown: #31-35

#31. Jaime Ffrench – WR – Jacksonville (FL) Mandarin: Ffrench is a 6’2″, 185 lb. second-year player who’s in his first year at Michigan after transferring from Texas. The former elite recruit played in four games last season for the Longhorns (1 catch for 6 yards). Michigan needed significant help at the position this off-season, and it should be an improved group. Ffrench seems likely to be no higher than the #3 receiver behind Andrew Marsh and J.J. Buchanan, and the #3 wide receiver for Utah last year caught 15 passes for 280 yards and 6 touchdowns. I think Ffrench will catch more than 15 passes for the Wolverines in 2026, partly because he supposedly has a good rapport with classmate Bryce Underwood.

#32. Nate Marshall – DE – Oak Park (IL) Fenwick: Marshall is listed at 6’3″, 248 lbs. in his second year in Ann Arbor. He made 6 tackles and showed some flashes of athleticism in 2025, but he seemed a little light. He’s still not very big for a Big Ten defensive end, but an extra year in the weight room hopefully helped. Michigan needs some help at edge rusher and Marshall was a highly valued recruit coming out of high school. Practice buzz has been somewhat limited, and he seems like a guy who will play significant minutes, but it might be 2027 before he really breaks out or commands a starting role.

#33. Troy Bowles – LB – Tampa (FL) Jesuit: Bowles is a 6’0″, 224 lb. third-year player who spent one year at Georgia in 2024 before arriving at Michigan last season. He was supposed to be a deep backup, but multiple injuries to linebackers like Cold Sullivan and Jimmy Rolder led to him seeing more playing time than expected. He made 27 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, and 1 blocked kick. The linebacker position is one of the more intriguing position battles in camp, because there are a lot of bodies, but nobody has really accomplished much. Nathaniel Staehling, Aisea Moa, and Max Alford are all veteran transfers, Bowles played significant minutes last year, and then there are people like Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng and Chase Taylor, who are totally unproven. I have a feeling that Bowles will end up as a backup this season (barring injury to someone), but it’s a bit of a crapshoot.

#34. Salesi Moa – WR – Ogden (UT) Fremont: The 6’2″, 186 lb. freshman signed with Utah and then immediately transferred to Michigan over the winter, following head coach Kyle Whittingham across the country. Michigan also landed his older brother Aisea Moa in the transfer portal. The Wolverines seem pretty set with their #1 and #2 receivers (see Jaime Ffrench’s blurb above), so Moa seems to be fighting for the #3 spot with Ffrench and a couple other players. I don’t know how that will shake out, but I’m giving the edge to the older player in Ffrench. Moa ended up ranked as a 4-star, the #2 athlete, and #49 overall in the 2026 recruiting class, so he was a highly regarded recruit. We might see flashes from him this fall, and I personally would like to see how he might look as a kickoff returner. But he’s a freshman, so I’m keeping my expectations low for now.

#35. Brady Norton – OT – Mission Viejo (CA) Mission Viejo: Norton is a 6’4″, 310 lb. senior who had three starts and played in seven total games in 2025. Norton seems to be in the running to start at offensive guard in 2026, battling with the likes of Nate Efobi, Evan Link, and others. Ranked at #35 here, obviously it looks like I expect him to lose the position battle, but he should be a capable backup who can play a few positions on the offensive line. He spent some time at offensive tackle while he was in junior college in California. He could be a starter or he could be the #7 or #8 lineman on the team.

Michigan 24, Washington 7

NOTE: Again, I apologize for the inconsistent posting schedule lately. Too many things going on right now. I’ve started preview posts the past two weeks and just haven’t been able to finish.

Bryce Underwood is a dude. The talent of Bryce Underwood is off the charts. Michigan has never seen anything like him on their roster. The closest is Drew Henson or Devin Gardner, but Underwood is a twitchier athlete than Henson and a better thrower than Gardner. Underwood completed 21/27 passes for 230 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions, and he looked to be in control the entire game. There were a few drops, but I don’t love taking away the drops and making pronouncements about what his completion percentage should be, because then you’re not comparing apples to apples when it comes to other quarterbacks or general expectations. It’s sufficient enough to describe his accuracy by saying he completed 21/27 passes.

Hit the jump for more.

2025 Season Countdown: #36-40

40. TE Hogan Hansen (So.): Hansen certainly outplayed his countdown ranking last season, playing in ten games and making 7 catches for 78 yards and 1 touchdown. Assuming the pecking order remains the same, that should move Hansen up one spot since Colston Loveland went to the Bears in the 1st round of the NFL draft. With Marlin Klein as the starter, Hansen should be in the mix pretty regularly, along with H-backs Max Bredeson and Jalen Hoffman. Last year’s rank: #110.

39. LB Jimmy Rolder (RS Jr.): Rolder is one of those guys whose career has kind of slipped past. Now he’s in his fourth year, and though he has played quite a bit (31 games, including 24 on defense), he has yet to really make his mark. Over the past couple seasons, Michigan has brought in Ernest Hausmann from Nebraska and Jaishawn Barham from Maryland to play inside linebacker, and Rolder has patiently waited for his opportunity. This off-season saw the addition of Troy Bowles from Georgia, too. The 6’2″, 240 lb. Rolder would probably be starting by now in another era (26 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss in 2024), but it looks like he’ll be in the second group of inside linebackers, along with Cole Sullivan. Last year’s rank: #33.

38. OT Brady Norton (RS So.): Norton transferred to Michigan this off-season after spending two seasons at Cal Poly where he started eleven games in 2024, earning Freshman All-America status for FCS. Though the spring roster still listed him at 6’3″, 275 lbs., he insists that was his playing weight as a freshman and that he’s more like 315 lbs. now. I tend to think he’s a year away from playing at the Big Ten level, and he will probably end up playing guard before all is said and done. For now I think he’ll be one of the top eight or nine linemen who could sub in if there’s an injury or get some developmental time. With Giovanni El-Hadi, Lawrence Hattar, and Greg Crippen all out of eligibility after 2025, there will be three spots open on the interior.

37. C Jake Guarnera (RS Fr.): Guarnera played in five games on special teams in 2024, preserving his redshirt since one of those games was the bowl game against Alabama. The 6’4″, 317 lb. second-year player has received some quiet praise from the coaches and looks like he might be the backup center for 2025 behind Greg Crippen. Crippen is a fifth year senior and should have a stranglehold on the position, but he did face stiff competition from a converted defensive tackle last year in Dominick Giudice, so there might be some shakiness that Guarnera could help to stabilize. Last year’s rank: #102.

36. OT Blake Frazier (RS Fr.): Frazier was a well regarded recruit in the 2024 class who needed to add weight and also dealt with some injuries over the past couple years. The son of former Michigan center Steve Frazier, Blake is someone who has received praise from the coaches and could very well slide in at tackle this season. Sam Webb has been projecting Frazier to start. I’m not quite there yet because the injury/inexperience combination scares me a little bit, so I’m leaning toward Evan Link starting at left tackle. Meanwhile, true freshman Andrew Babalola is also fighting to play, so it seems like a three-way battle. Last year’s rank: #91.

2025 Spring Football Preview: Offensive Line

RETURNING PLAYERS: Greg Crippen (RS Sr.), Giovanni El-Hadi (RS Sr.), Connor Jones (RS Jr.), Brooks Bahr (RS So.), Nathan Efobi (RS So.), Evan Link (RS So.), Blake Frazier (RS Fr.), Jake Guarnera (RS Fr.), Luke Hamilton (RS Fr.), Ben Roebuck (RS Fr.), Andrew Sprague (RS Fr.)
NEWCOMERS: Lawrence Hattar (RS Sr.), Brady Norton (RS So.), Andrew Babalola (Fr.), Kaden Strayhorn (Fr.)
DEPARTURES: Raheem Anderson (transfer to Western Michigan), Tristan Bounds (transfer to Arizona), Andrew Gentry (transfer to BYU), Dominick Giudice (transfer to Missouri), Myles Hinton (NFL Draft), Jeffrey Persi (transfer to Pitt), Josh Priebe (NFL Draft)

OUTLOOK: Michigan really struggled up front in 2024, the first year under new offensive line coach Grant Newsome. They did seem to make some progress late in the year, but it was too late to salvage anything but a couple surprise victories against Ohio State and Alabama. The top performer up front was Myles Hinton, a mammoth Stanford transfer. Transfer left guard Josh Priebe struggled at times, and from the center to the right tackle was a travesty for much of the year. Greg Crippen and Dominick Giudice played hot potato with the reins of the center position for the entire year, Giovanni El-Hadi performed disappointingly at right guard, and redshirt freshman Evan Link posted multiple PFF grades of 0.0 in pass protection.

There has been a lot of turnover on the offensive line, with seven players either moving on to the NFL (Hinton, Priebe) or transferring. Giudice, Andrew Gentry, and Jeffrey Persi all had significant starting or playing experience, and all three decided to play elsewhere, leaving somewhat of a void in the remaining offensive line.

The bowl game against Alabama featured Link at left tackle and freshman Andrew Sprague at right tackle, and that may be the configuration we see to begin the spring. Link looked more comfortable on the left side, and Sprague showed some promise at right tackle, especially from an attitude perspective. Add in an off-season of strength and conditioning, and Sprague should be ready to roll.

As for new faces for 2025, Ferris State transfer Lawrence Hattar could possibly be penciled in to start at guard; he’s a fifth year player with lots of starting experience at the Division II level. Andrew Babalola is a 5-star prospect who’s big enough and athletic enough to compete for playing time at one of the tackle positions. Junior college transfer Brady Norton has potential down the road, but he’s probably a developmental guy at this point.

A couple other players who have been rumored to be in contention for playing time are redshirt junior Connor Jones and redshirt sophomore Nathan Efobi. Redshirt freshman Blake Frazier has been mentioned as having potential if he can get/stay healthy, and redshirt freshman Ben Roebuck had college-ready size when he arrived in 2024. All of those players are huge question marks since we haven’t really seen them on the field except during spring games.

Overall, the offensive line is a group with a lot of individual talent, but very little cohesion from playing together. Center Greg Crippen and offensive guard Giovanni El-Hadi have spent lots of time together as two fifth year seniors, but the rest of the players are either young or new to the system. It’s probably a pipe dream to hope for a return to the Joe Moore Award-level play we saw in 2021 and 2022, but it’s going to be very disappointing if Michigan can’t perform better in the trenches than they did in 2024.

Brady Norton, Wolverine

Cal Poly offensive lineman Brady Norton committed to Michigan on Monday. He picked the Wolverines over an offer from Ohio State.

Norton was listed at 6’3″ and 275 pounds while at Cal Poly as a redshirt freshman this past season, but commitment reports list him at 6’4″ and 290 pounds. He graded out as Pro Football Focus’s top FCS offensive lineman for the 2024 season.

With limited film from the FCS level, I don’t have a lot of insights into Norton. I’ve watched a few clips here and there, and I’m impressed by his quickness. I think Michigan fans might be impressed by how well he moves once he puts on a winged helmet. We’ll also be waiting to see how he measures up when he arrives on campus. Even if he is indeed 290 pounds, that’s a little bit light to expect much of a contribution upon arrival. He might need a year to comfortably get in the 300-310 pound range to make him a little more playable.

Norton reportedly has long arms, which could make him an option at tackle; I like his feet for the tackle position, but those can also be put to good use if the coaches plan to pull him from the guard spot. Again, the athletic ability is there, but the size might be more of the determining factor for which position he plays.

Norton has played just one season of college football after redshirting in 2023, so he has three years of eligibility remaining. The last FCS transfer Michigan took was cornerback Aamir Hall prior to the 2024 season, and Hall ended up making a couple interceptions and being a de facto starter with Will Johnson missing half the season. I don’t expect such an immediate impact from Norton, but he could be a solid player down the road.