Tag: transfers

Chris Bracy, Wolverine

Memphis transfer safety Chris Bracy is transferring to Michigan.

Bracy is a 6’1″, 195 lb. safety who started eleven games in 2025 and played in thirteen altogether, making 81 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, and 9 pass breakups. His position coach for the Tigers was former Michigan linebacker Desmond Morgan. In the 2023 and 2024 seasons combined at UAB, he made 33 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, 1 interception (returned for 58 yards against Louisiana), and 2 pass breakups.

Coming out of Mobile (AL) St. Paul’s Episcopal in 2023, Bracy was a 3-star, the #177 safety, and #2008 overall.

Bracy is not a physical wonder by any means, but you’re unlikely to get freaks who were #2008 overall and just came from Memphis. What he has is three years of experience playing college football and playing pretty regularly, including ranking #3 on his team in tackles and #1 in pass breakups in 2025. Bracy should provide a veteran presence and a willingness to come up and tackle on the edge, whether it’s in the run game or on short passes. His deep speed and ability to cover is going to be the big question mark, but experience and knowledge can help overcome that at the safety spot.

Bracy should come in and either start or be a regular rotation player in Michigan’s secondary. With some young players rising and Rod Moore’s questionable health as he returns for a sixth year, there are a lot of moving parts at the safety spot for the Wolverines.

Max Alford, Wolverine

Michigan landed transfer linebacker Max Alford from BYU. Alford is the nephew of Michigan running backs coach Tony Alford.

Max is a 6’1″, 230 lb. linebacker who played at Utah State from 2022-2024 before transferring to BYU for the 2025 season. He has played in 28 total games in his career, including five starts, and he played in ten games for BYU last season. While playing for the Cougars, he played 142 defensive snaps and 96 special teams snaps, totaling 21 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 quarterback hurry.

Coming out of Park City (UT) Park City, he was a 3-star, the #145 running back, and #1979 overall in the class of 2022. Going back to film of his high school days, it was pretty clear that he was not going to stick at running back in college. He was kind of just an upright, straight-line runner, but he ran with a linebacker’s mentality.

Michigan needed help out of the transfer portal in this class, and Alford is at least a body who can help with special teams play and in the linebacker room. He’s coming from the same school as defensive coordinator Jay Hill, so he should have a leg up mentally and may be able to help the other linebackers transition to the new defensive scheme, too. Whether he plays a big role defensively or not depends on a lot of other unknowns, such as Michigan State transfer Aisea Moa and North Dakota State transfer Nate Staehling. The Wolverines lost their top four inside linebackers from a year ago, including Cole Sullivan (Oklahoma), Ernest Hausmann (graduation/retirement), Jimmy Rolder (NFL draft), and Jaishawn Barham (graduation/NFL draft).

John Henry Daley, Wolverine

Utah defensive end John Henry Daley is transferring to Michigan.

Coming out of Alpine (UT) Lone Peak, Daley was a 3-star, the #45 athlete, and #613 overall in the 247 Composite. He started his career at BYU in 2023, making 3 tackles in three games and redshirting. He then transferred to Utah, where he made 4 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 sack in seven games in 2024. He followed that up this past season with a Walter Camp First Team All-America performance, making 48 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 pass breakup while playing in eleven games.

At 6’4″ and 255 pounds, Daley tied for #5 nationally in tackles for loss (everyone tied with or above him played 12+ games) and #7 in sacks (same story). In other words, he was #3 in TFLs per game and #2 in sacks per game.

Daley has a lot of football in his bloodlines, including a brother who’s a captain at Rice (after starting his career at BYU, too), a dad who played at BYU, and several uncles who played at BYU, including Taysom Hill.

Watching some of Utah this season and some highlights of Daley, I’m definitely curious to see if his playmaking ability translates to the Big Ten. Most of the wins I saw were where he just came off the ball like a rocket, attacked half a man, and was able to beat the tackle around the edge. There’s not much nuance to his game. There’s definitely a path to success with that approach, but he will have to face better tackles in the Big Ten. Furthermore, he is overcoming a lower body injury (rumored to be an Achilles issue), so his contribution may just depend on how quickly he can get back to full speed. Luckily, he has two seasons of eligibility remaining, so Michigan fans could potentially see him at full strength in 2027, too.

If Daley gets back to form in 2026, he is pretty clearly Michigan’s best edge defender. Mix in some Dominic Nichols, Nate Marshall, Cam Brandt, etc., and it’s a decent group of players.

J.J. Buchanan, Wolverine

Utah tight-end-ish wide receiver J.J. Buchanan has committed to Michigan.

Buchanan was a true freshman in 2025 and still started seven games, making 26 catches for 427 yards and 5 touchdowns. Coming out of Henderson (NV) Coronado in 2025, he was a 247 Composite 3-star, the #27 athlete, and #570 overall. He is in the transfer portal as a 4-star, the #1 tight end, and #19 overall, according to 247 Sports.

The story on Buchanan coming out of high school was that he was an athlete who could play a variety of positions, from receiver to safety to tight end to linebacker. He didn’t show elite speed for a receiver, but he did show nice ball skills. He also doesn’t have the range of a safety, but his combo of size and athleticism potentially made him intriguing as a linebacker project. Instead, he ended up being a “tight end” at Utah, but he lined up out wide or in the slot for all but five of his snaps in 2025.

Now listed as a wide receiver for Michigan, it will be interesting to see how the Wolverines coaching staff deploys him in the bigger, faster Big Ten. Michigan loses starting tight end Marlin Klein, and the backups (Hogan Hansen, Zack Marshall, etc.) haven’t shown much in the way of playing as in-line tight ends. With receiver Andrew Marsh returning and receiver Jaime Ffrench incoming, those two could start on the outside with Buchanan working in the slot. How will Michigan use the remaining offensive skill position spots? Will they treat Buchanan as a receiver or tight end? Will they bulk him up with the eventual goal of making him a 245 lb. tight end, or will they want him playing around 225 lbs. as a big receiver?

Overall, Buchanan is a good addition to a team that is used to using tight end-type bodies. Even if he ends up as more of a receiver, he offers a big body and some versatility through which to run RPOs and the like. He should probably see starter-level snaps in 2026 and be a frequent target for quarterback Bryce Underwood.

Buchanan is one of four Utah players to following Kyle Whittingham from Utah, along with defensive tackle Jonah Lea’ea, cornerback Smith Snowden, and defensive end John Henry Daley.

Breeon Ishmail, Ex-Wolverine

Rising third-year player Breeon Ishmail entered the transfer portal last week.

Ishmail is a 6’3″, 260 lb. player who was listed as an EDGE last season. He made 3 tackles while playing in eight games this past season after redshirting as a true freshman in 2023.

Ishmail was a 3-star, the #91 linebacker, and #1110 overall coming out of Cincinnati (OH) Princeton. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Kentucky, Pitt, Tennessee, and West Virginia, among others. I gave him a TTB Rating of 71 coming out of high school (LINK).

So far nine players from the class of 2023 have entered the transfer portal, including Ishmail.