Tag: Donaven McCulley

2025 Spring Football Preview: Wide Receiver

RETURNING PLAYERS: Peyton O’Leary (RS Sr.), Joe Taylor (RS Sr.), Amorion Walker (Sr.), Logan Forbes (RS Jr.), Fredrick Moore (Jr.), Semaj Morgan (Jr.), Kendrick Bell (RS So.), Channing Goodwin (RS Fr.), I’Marion Stewart (RS Fr.)
NEWCOMERS: Donaven McCulley (RS Sr.), Anthony Simpson (RS Sr.), Andrew Marsh (Fr.), Jamar Browder (Fr.)
DEPARTURES: C.J. Charleston (graduation), Tyler Morris (transfer to Indiana)

OUTLOOK: Michigan’s receivers did not have a banner year in 2024. Part of it may be a chicken-or-egg situation with the poor quarterback play: no receiver was going to have a great year with Davis Warren and Alex Orji throwing the ball, and not many quarterbacks were going to have great passing numbers throwing to what Michigan put out there at receiver. Tight end Colston Loveland led Michigan’s team in receptions (56), yards (548), and touchdowns (5). By comparison, the leading wideouts in each category were Semaj Morgan (27 catches), Tyler Morris (248 yards), and Morris again (2 touchdowns).

Morris headed for the greener pastures of, uh, Bloomington, Indiana, this off-season, so it’s a pretty complete overhaul of the receiving group. Morgan is back, but he had a measly 139 yards and a paltry 5.2 yards per catch. That’s not an indictment of Morgan’s talent, but Michigan’s overall inability to push the ball downfield, set up screens appropriately, and generally call an offense. I have more faith in new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey than the departed Kirk Campbell, so I expect Morgan to benefit significantly. But he has yet to prove that he can be a downfield threat.

The prize of Michigan’s transfer efforts at receiver is Indiana transfer Donaven McCulley, a 6’5″, 203 lb. possession guy who caught 48 passes for 644 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2023. While he doesn’t have a ton of downfield speed, he’s the type of big target with experience that Michigan lacked out wide in 2024. He can probably be penciled in as a starter this fall.

Other unknowns include the quick Fredrick Moore (11 catches, 148 yards, 1 TD in 2024), former walk-on and possession guy Peyton O’Leary (10 catches, 102 yards, 1 TD), former quarterback Kendrick Bell (7 catches, 70 yards), and reed-thin speedster Amorion Walker (3 catches, 34 yards). The most intriguing of those is Walker, who is 6’3″ and 182 lbs. Once penciled in as a starting cornerback by Jim Harbaugh – and briefly at Ole Miss in the spring of 2024 – he spent last year at receiver. If corners don’t get a hand on him, he can run real fast; if corners do get a hand on him, he can fall down real fast.

One of Lindsey’s tasks will be to figure out which veteran receiver can play a good-sized role in the offense and provide some help for some limited quarterbacks: QB Mikey Keene is limited by his stature, and QB Bryce Underwood is limited by his inexperience. But another task will be to figure out what roles can be played by freshman Andrew Marsh, incoming UMass transfer Anthony Simpson, and freshman Jamar Browder. Marsh comes in with some questions about his overall speed, but he reportedly finds a way to make things happen. Simpson is a bit of a screen and gadget guy, but he could be fun to watch. And Browder is a 6’3″ guy with some upside, but he’s probably somebody who needs to bake in the oven for at least a season.

Overall, Michigan has an array of pieces. While last season was similar at receiver to the 2023-2024 Michigan basketball team that got Juwan Howard fired because he couldn’t construct a roster, this year could be closer to the 2024-2025 Dusty May version of the basketball team: a well constructed squad probably lacking championship potential.

Donaven McCulley, Wolverine

Former Indiana wide receiver Donaven McCulley has committed to Michigan.

McCulley is a 6’5″, 200 lb. player who started his career at quarterback in 2021 before switching to wide receiver for the past three seasons. He was just the third true freshman quarterback to start a game for Indiana, completing 35/82 passes for 475 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions in 2021; he also ran 64 times for 135 yards and 2 scores. He caught 18 passes for 184 yards and 1 touchdown in 2022 and then made 48 catches for 644 yards and 6 touchdowns as a junior in 2023.

McCulley entered the transfer portal following the 2023 season and had interest in Michigan, but he was convinced to return to Indiana with new head coach Curt Cignetti coming to Bloomington. Unfortunately for McCulley, Cignetti brought some of his own transfers from JMU, who ended up winning out and leaving McCulley mostly on the bench. He caught just 2 passes for 21 yards while playing in four games. If he had continued to play beyond four games, he would have lost the ability to play in 2025 and presumably finished his college career as a backup for the Hoosiers. Instead, he announced he would enter the transfer portal after four games, which allows him to play one more year.

Michigan needs help at the receiver position with top receiver Tyler Morris entering the portal and not much size on the roster. The “big” target on the squad is 6’3″, 182 lb. Amorion Walker, who was injured for much of the 2024 season, so McCulley immediately becomes the biggest target for incoming freshman Bryce Underwood and whoever else Michigan can land in the portal.

McCulley is the third transfer to come from Indiana to Michigan in recent years, joining TE A.J. Barner and QB Jack Tuttle, both of whom joined the Wolverines prior to the 2023 national championship season.

A part of the class of 2021, McCulley was a 4-star, the #24 quarterback, and #223 overall in the class of 2021.