Tag: Jacob Washington

2026 Season Countdown: #86-90

#86. Max Alford – LB – Park City (UT) Park City: Alford is a 6’1″, 230 lb. fifth year senior and the nephew of running backs coach Tony Alford. After spending three seasons at Utah State, he then transferred to BYU in 2025, making 21 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 sack for the Cougars. He does have five career starts, making him a more experienced player than most in the linebacker room, but watching some film of him makes me think he will be a step or two too slow to play for the Wolverines. I think his biggest role will be as a mentor to younger players as they learn defensive coordinator Jay Hill’s defense, since Hill was BYU’s defensive coordinator.

#87. Jacob Washington – WR – Marrero (LA) Archbishop Shaw: Washington is a 6’3″, 197 lb. redshirt freshman after playing in just two games in 2025. High school teammate Jasper Parker spent one season in Ann Arbor before going back down south to play for Arkansas this fall, and Washington looks to be pretty solidly mired as a backup for the 2026 season behind several players. From the buzz coming out of practice, it appears that freshman Travis Johnson has passed up Washington on the depth chart, too. There will probably not be a ton of playing time available for Washington this fall unless there are some injury problems.

#88. Luke Hamilton – OG – Avon (OH) Avon: Hamilton is a 6’5″, 319 lb. redshirt sophomore now. After two years on campus, his only game appearance has been in the 63-3 blowout of Central Michigan in 2025. Word coming out of practices has been that Michigan has about eight different guys who could start this fall, but Hamilton hasn’t really been mentioned much by insiders and appears to be on the outside looking in when it comes to getting meaningful playing time this fall. If he spends a third year at Michigan barely getting on the field, things will be looking pretty bleak for his future in Ann Arbor.

#89. Daniel Taraboi – OT – Cedarburg (WI) Cedarburg: Taraboi is a 6’7″, 328 lb. fifth year senior who is a former walk-on. He has played in one game in each of his seasons on the roster. His best chance to play may be on the extra point/field goal protection unit, but Michigan has enough depth that Taraboi probably won’t get on the field much as the coaching staff tries to develop younger players for action in 2027.

#90. Brooks Bahr – OG – Lake Forest (IL) Loyola: Wow, Bahr’s career has gone by quickly. As I began typing up this post, I was still thinking of Bahr as a redshirt sophomore, but he’s actually going into his fourth year on campus. After starting his career as a defensive end, he moved to the offensive side of the ball a year ago and is now listed as a 6’5″, 312 lb. offensive lineman. He does not appear to be much of a factor in the discussion for playing time this fall, and somewhat like Taraboi, he may be most likely to play on a special teams protection unit.

2025 Season Countdown: #86-90

90. WR Jacob Washington (Fr.): Washington (4-star, #28 WR, #200 overall) hails from Louisiana and is a 6’3″, 180 lb. wideout. Michigan is in need of some bigger targets at receiver, and now they have some in the pipeline with Washington, fellow freshman Jamar Browder, and transfer Donaven McCulley. Washington has probably put on some weight in the meantime, but his route running and strength need some work, so I would expect him to redshirt this fall.

89. WR Jasper Parker (Fr.): Parker (4-star, #19 RB, #284 overall) is a 6’0″, 189 lb. freshman who was a teammate of Washington in high school. He ran for 1,464 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior in 2024. Parker has some elements to be a good back, as I like his patience and his ability to sink his hips and make some sharp cuts. I gave him a TTB Rating of 68 when he committed, but that’s because of the running back depth chart and the nature of the transfer portal these days. I could easily see him outplaying that rating. Regardless, he’s probably headed for a redshirt this season, but I could see him getting more playing time than fellow freshman back Donovan Johnson.

88. LB Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng (Fr.): Owusu-Boateng is a 6’1″, 203 lb. linebacker who ranked as a 4-star, the #14 linebacker, and #145 overall. The Michigan coaches apparently love what he brings to the table, but he’s still very light. Enrolling early might help him, but he’s probably more of a special teams player than a linebacker for this season.

87. CB Jayden Sanders (Fr.): The lanky Texan cornerback was listed at 6’2″, 172 lbs. as a recruit, but there are some reports that he’s probably 6’3″ after hitting a bit of a growth spurt. Sanders (4-star, #24 CB, #229 overall) could play a backup role on a unit that doesn’t have much proven depth, but he’s a likely redshirt candidate. Classmate Shamari Earls is more physically ready to contribute this season.

86. OG Luke Hamilton (RS Fr.): Hamilton is listed at 6’5″, 315 lbs. in his second year of college after not playing at all in 2024. That’s about 25 pounds heavier than he was listed as a recruit. There is room for some new contributions on the interior offensive line after a few interior guys left after the 2024 season, but Michigan also brought in players like Ferris State’s Lawrence Hattar and Cal Poly’s Brady Norton. It will probably be another year of backup duty for Hamilton. Last year’s rank: #114.

2025 Offensive Recruiting Update: November 27, 2024

With National Signing Day looming in early December – and lots of recruiting movement – I wanted to catch up on some of the most recent happenings as Michigan tries to fill out its 2025 recruiting class.

QUARTERBACK

COMMIT: Belleville (MI) Belleville quarterback Bryce Underwood committed to Michigan (LINK). It seems as if Fort Myers (FL) Bishop Verot quarterback Carter Smith at least suspected that was going to happen, and he decommitted beforehand; Smith recently committed to Wisconsin and will be a Badger instead, perhaps with eyes on getting a bit of revenge against the Wolverines down the road.

KEEP AN EYE ON: Michigan will also be looking to add a quarterback through the transfer portal, and USC transfer Miller Moss has been rumored to be a possible candidate.

Hit the jump for more.

Visitors: Michigan vs. USC

2025

Avery Gach – OT – Birmingham (MI) Groves: Gach is committed to Michigan (LINK).

Donovan Johnson – RB – Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy: Johnson is committed to Michigan (LINK).

Bobby Kanka – DT – Howell (MI) Howell: Kanka is committed to Michigan.

Hit the jump for more.

2025 Recruiting Update: July 7, 2024

COMMITMENTS

I recently put up commitment posts for the following players:

• RB Donovan Johnson (LINK)
• RB Jasper Parker (LINK)
• WR Jacob Washington (LINK)
• OL Kaden Strayhorn (LINK)
• DE Julius Holly (LINK)
• LB Chase Taylor (LINK)
• S Kainoa Winston (LINK)

OFF THE BOARD

Las Vegas (NV) Bishop Gorman offensive guard Seuseu Alofaituli (4-star, #3 IOL, #70 overall) committed to Miami. He had visited Michigan officially at the beginning of June and was a teammate of incoming freshman running back Micah Ka’apana.

Princeton (NJ) Hun School linebacker Kamar Archie (4-star, #32 LB, #286 overall) committed to Rutgers. He had visited Michigan several times and took an official to Ann Arbor in late June. There were rumors long ago that Michigan might be “too big of a stage” for his liking, so perhaps that was an important factor in his decision.

Hit the jump for more.