Tag: Jaishawn Barham

Michigan 63, Central Michigan 3

Michigan is really good. No disrespect to CMU, but that was an a** kicking. Michigan dominated them physically, and that happened minus the two starting offensive guards and a potential starting left tackle in Andrew Babalola. Michigan averaged 7.7 yards per play, including 6.9 yards per rushing attempt and 9.4 yards per passing attempt. Michigan had seven players with a rush of 10+ yards, including two wide receivers in Andrew Marsh and Anthony Simpson.

Or Central Michigan isn’t good. One thing I have noticed over the years is that the weaker opponents usually have at least one guy who’s dangerous, whether it’s a tough running back who’s difficult to bring down or a speedy slot receiver or maybe a quick quarterback. That’s not the case with Central Michigan. I didn’t see anyone who made me nervous, and they couldn’t threaten the Wolverines. Defensively, they might play with enough discipline to get some wins this season, but they don’t have playmakers on offense.

Hit the jump for more.

Michigan 34, New Mexico 17

The team the team the team. I’m not going to start off talking about He Who Shall Not Be Named in the First Paragraph because I want to take a more holistic look at Michigan’s 2025 team. But this looks like a complete team. I don’t think it’s a championship team, but it’s a complete team in that there are no glaring weaknesses or players who are obviously overmatched. Now some might say “Meh, it’s New Mexico and they were 5-7 last year and lost their coach and brought in a bunch of new players,” but it’s a team that had a mindset of running the ball last year (#2 in the country in 2024) and it’s one that seems to have taken on the attitude of its coach. I heard good things about Jason Eck a few years ago on the coaching clinic circuit, and the team played with some swagger, which you have to do coming into Michigan Stadium as a giant underdog. Michigan looks like a pro team in the sense that there are no easy days against pro teams. If you have an injury on your 53-man roster in the NFL, you bring in another guy who looks like a pro, because he’s been a backup or he’s a veteran who played for ten years but maybe didn’t have the right contract situation. I mentioned before that this is the deepest Michigan team I’ve seen (perhaps not the best, but the deepest), and I think that showed on Saturday night.

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2025 Season Countdown: #13 Jaishawn Barham

Name: Jaishawn Barham
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 243 lbs.
High school: Baltimore (MD) St. Frances
Position: Linebacker
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #1
Last year: I ranked Barham #7 and said he would be a starting middle linebacker with 65 tackles, 4 sacks, and 1 interception (LINK). He started all thirteen games and made 66 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 pass breakups, and 5 quarterback hurries.
TTB Rating: N/A

After playing two seasons at Maryland, Barham transferred to Michigan for the 2024 season and immediately stepped into a starting role. Consistently discussed as perhaps the most imposing defender for the Wolverines, he had some troubles adjusting to Michigan’s defense. There were some missed reads and his coverage was questionable, but as the year went along, he and the entire defense improved as they got used to new defensive coordinator Wink Martindale. By the time the season ended, that unit was clicking and only allowed 49 points over the final four games, which included three top-11 teams in Indiana, Ohio State, and Alabama.

Barham probably shouldn’t be as low as #13, but I couldn’t justify ranking him higher in importance because the guys ahead of him in the countdown don’t have backups approximating their level. In the case of inside linebacker, Michigan has basically a third starter in Jimmy Rolder and then another guy that everyone raves about in Cole Sullivan. Add in fifth year senior Jaydon Hood and Georgia transfer Troy Bowles, and Michigan has a lot of depth. The talk is that Barham will be used in a variety of ways this year, including rushing off the edge, but Michigan has four solid guys on the edge, too. Barham should be fun to watch in year two wearing a winged helmet.

Prediction: Starting weakside linebacker; 60 tackles, 3 sacks

Another name in the LB class to be aware of is Michigan LB Jaishawn Barham. Has the athleticism and length to not only be an impactful off ball LB, but also a disruptive blizter pic.twitter.com/oYVYSSKCzX

— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) May 8, 2025

Michigan vs. Texas Awards

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . running backs carrying the ball. Michigan’s top two running backs, Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullings, had just 14 total carries on Saturday. While they were only mildly productive, Michigan needs to commit to the run game to help out inexperienced quarterback Davis Warren. Michigan can’t just run the ball to run the ball, either; the coaches need to find creative ways to get them the ball and help them be successful.

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2024 Season Predictions

NOTE: I want to acknowledge that this post is coming out after Michigan’s first game. I usually get this post done prior to the season – for obvious reasons – but I was scrambling to finish the countdown and just couldn’t get it all wrapped up. Some of these predictions were already shared in the season countdown posts, but some were not addressed.

LEADING RUSHER
I’m not sure how well this prediction holds up after watching game one against Fresno State, in which Kalel Mullings outgained Donovan Edwards. But I believed Edwards would be the lead back and put up a good chunk of yards.
Prediction: Donovan Edwards, 1100 yards

Hit the jump for the rest of the prognostications.