Tag: Kendrick Bell

2026 Season Countdown: #61-65

#61. Kendrick Bell – WR – Kansas City (MO) Park Hill: Bell enters his fourth season on campus as a 6’2″, 205 lb. wide receiver. After starting his career as a quarterback and then quickly transitioning to receiver, he ascended to the point in 2025 where he started one game and played in all thirteen. He made 3 catches for 54 yards on the season, including a touchdown against Texas in the bowl game. Now he seems to be a bit of an afterthought with Michigan keeping Andrew Marsh and bringing in Jaime Ffrench (Texas), J.J. Buchanan (Utah), and higher schooler Travis Johnson, among others. There’s still a chance that Bell could start a game here or there in certain packages or if an injury or two happen, but he’s not looked at as one of the top few options.

#62: Jonathan Brown – RB – Columbus (OH) St. Frances de Sales: Brown is a 6’3″, 200 lb. running back who was an under-the-radar land (3-star, #50 RB, #804 overall) for the Wolverines in the class of 2026. Running backs coach Tony Alford took a liking to him at a football camp in the summer of 2025 and extended an offer, and Brown supposedly looked pretty good in the spring. It’s probably too early to expect much from a freshman running back who is pretty tall and slight at this point, but Michigan has a solid top three at running back and then things get murky with Brown, Donovan Johnson, and walk-ons. Here I have Brown as the #4 running back, so hopefully the top three stay pretty healthy throughout the season.

#63. Jacob Baggett – K – Charlotte (NC) Providence Day: Baggett is a 6’0″, 170 lb. freshman who set a North Carolina state record for touchbacks in a single season with 95 touchbacks out of 102 kickoffs. He also made 6/7 field goals and his only miss was from 51 yards. High schoolers kick off from the -40 yard line, whereas college kickers kick from the -35, so Baggett will have a slightly larger challenge to get touchbacks for the next few years. I’m not sure quite where to place him in the countdown, because he could end up as the kickoff specialist or he could never see the field at all. Returning specialist Hudson Hollenbeck has spent most of his time punting over the past couple seasons, but Michigan also brought in Pitt place kicker Trey Butkowski (zero kickoffs in 2025) and UNLV punter Cam Brown (zero kickoffs in 2025). Whether it’s Baggett or one of the other three, somebody is going to be handling kickoff duties for the first time in college.

#64. Avery Gach – OG – Franklin (MI) Groves: Gach is a 6’5″, 308 lb. redshirt freshman who played in five games last season, including the Cheez-It Bowl against Texas. The coaching staff seemed to like his gritty attitude and I heard him mentioned several times as someone to watch for as an up-and-comer. I think his lack of experience will hold him back from being a major contributor in 2026, but he appears to be on that next rung of players who could slide into a key role when someone ahead of him moves on or gets injured. The problem for Gach could be that the guys ahead of him are also pretty young, so he may have to wait even beyond next year before a spot opens up.

#65. Gavin Magorien – LS – Erie (PA) McDowell: Magorien is a 6’0″, 202 lb. second-year college player after transferring in from Marshall over the off-season. He was Marshall’s long snapper in twelve games last season, so he’s rather experienced – and pretty small, by the way – for a second year college player. Michigan seems to have pumped out solid long snappers for the past several years, so this is the first time in a while where the position is a little uncertain. However, along with Magorien, the Wolverines brought in fifth-year Pitt long snapper Nico Crawford, who also spent time at Illinois and Charlotte. My guess is that the fifth-year, three-year starter will start over the second-year, second-year starter, so here Magorien is at #65 on the countdown.

2025 Season Countdown: #51-55

55. TE Zack Marshall (RS So.): Marshall played in all thirteen games last season, mostly on special teams; he played in just four games on offense and didn’t record any stats other than 1 special teams tackle. I expect Michigan’s new offensive coordinator to incorporate a little bit more spread to the offense to give Bryce Underwood room to operate, so I think the tight end position will be de-emphasized some. Marshall will be backing up the likes of Marlin Klein and Max Bredeson, and it appears second-year player Hogan Hansen and former walk-on Jalen Hoffman have also passed him up. Last year’s rank: #47a.

54. LB Jaydon Hood (RS Sr.): To be perfectly honest, I was surprised when Jaydon Hood made it through the transfer portal window without trying to go somewhere else. That’s not an indictment of his talent, but a nod to the other talented linebackers Michigan has kept bringing in, including Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barham as transfers, along with Cole Sullivan and Jimmy Rolder as recruits. Toss in Georgia transfer Troy Bowles and it seemed like Hood would have had good reason to play his final year elsewhere. But he played linebacker in eight games last year, making 9 tackles and 1 tackle for loss, so there’s still potential for him to play a meaningful backup role and on special teams. Last year’s rank: #41.

53. CB Jo’Ziah Edmond (So.): I had trouble finding where to rank Edmond, a 6’1″, 180 lb. second-year player whom the coaches were very high on when he arrived in 2024. He played in eight total games, including four at cornerback, and made 2 tackles on the year. On the one hand, burning a redshirt for a backup role usually indicates a significant role the next year. On the other hand, Michigan brought in the Metcalf brothers from Arkansas, moved Zeke Berry to cornerback full-time, and also landed an elite player in 2025 recruit Shamari Earls. Edmond could be anywhere from the third corner behind Berry and Jyaire Hill to the sixth corner behind those two and Earls, Jeremiah Lowe, and Tevis Metcalf. Last year’s rank: #78.

52. WR Kendrick Bell (RS So.): Bell was a high school quarterback who transitioned to wide receiver in 2023, and he did play more in 2024 than I expected, making 7 catches for 70 yards. The wide receiver spot is up in the air, but I didn’t see much last year that makes me excited for his role in 2025. I may be reading too much into this, but there was also a recent interview of Sherrone Moore where he was mentioning receivers and forgot to mention the 6’2″, 191 lb. Bell until asked specifically, so I think Bell’s role will be minor this year. Last year’s rank: #55.

51. WR C.J. Charleston (6th): Charleston played in ten games and started two last year for the Wolverines, making 1 catch for 22 yards. A leg injury late in the season ended his campaign, and he somewhat unexpectedly decided to return for 2025. I tend to think he returned with an eye on playing as much or more in 2025, but his role was largely as a blocker and a guy who could be put in motion. With transfers like Donaven McCulley and Anthony Simpson stepping in, I’m not sure there’s much opportunity for Charleston to take on a big role, but he’s experienced, the coaches seemed to like his toughness, and he can contribute on specials. Last year’s rank: #46.

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.

Michigan 27, Minnesota 24

That’s an ugly score. I didn’t mind writing about a 27-24 victory when it came to the USC game, but I do have a problem with it after playing the Minnesota Gophers. In the game preview, I predicted a 38-13 victory. I had heard that Colston Loveland was likely to play, but I also assumed Will Johnson would play and I had no idea that Josaiah Stewart would miss the game. Regardless, Michigan has had some injury issues in past years against lesser Big Ten programs, and it didn’t have a huge effect. Michigan had to hang on in a nail-biter here, and that doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.

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Michigan vs. Arkansas State Awards

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Kalel Mullings. I respect Michigan’s 1-2 punch at running back, and they’ve done a good job (for the most part) of keeping guys fresh over the past several years and having at least two very good running backs. From Charbonnet/Haskins to Haskins/Corum to Corum/Edwards, the Wolverines have garnered a lot of respect. A couple games ago, though, the “Thunder” in this year’s thunder/lightning duo only had 6 carries. That’s not enough. Mullings had 15 carries for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns against Arkansas State, and he deserves to have just as many carries as Donovan Edwards, if not more. Michigan has a big game coming up this weekend, and Mullings should be getting the rock.

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