Tag: Troy Bowles

2025 Season Countdown: #66-70

70. S Kainoa Winston (Fr.): Winston (4-star, #10 safety, #96 overall) has the disadvantage of not enrolling early, but he’s a speedy player who hits hard and was a top-100 recruit in the class of 2025. There has been a lot of talk about Arkansas transfer Tevis Metcalf, and perhaps for good reason, but I think Winston could emerge on special teams and perhaps at nickel toward the end of the season if the opportunity arises.

69. S Nico Andrighetto (RS Jr.): The 5’9″, 190 lb. walk-on played in four games last season and notched a half-sack against Northwestern. He will probably be a regular on special teams this season, though I don’t expect him to contribute much on defense unless it’s garbage time. Last year’s rank: #100.

68. LB Troy Bowles (RS So.): The son of NFL coach Todd Bowles, Troy spent the past two seasons at Georgia, where he played a total of seven games and made 5 total tackles. He played in just two contests last year, taking a redshirt before transferring to Ann Arbor for his third season. Michigan has some solid depth at inside linebacker, and I suppose that includes Bowles, whom Michigan recruited out of high school. With Jimmy Rolder, Cole Sullivan, and Jaydon Hood backing up Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barham, I don’t think there will be many snaps left for the 6’0″, 220 lb. Bowles this season.

67b. K Stuart Blake (RS Fr.): Blake is a 6’1″, 179 lb. kicker from Jenkintown (PA) Jenkintown who was on the team but did not play in 2024. Michigan was somewhat active in the transfer portal this off-season after losing punter Tommy Doman to transfer, but they didn’t bring in much placekicking help other than a flyer on Beckham Sunderland (see below). Perhaps that shows some confidence in Blake’s abilities, but special teams are anyone’s guess.

67a. K Beckham Sunderland (RS So.): Sunderland is a former MLS – that’s soccer, folks – player who was a goalkeeper before embarking in a college kicking career at Texas State. Last season he was a backup kicker, but he sent 6 out of 8 kickoffs for touchbacks and also went 1/1 on extra points. His best chance to get on the field is probably as a kickoff specialist, but I have no idea how the competition for that job will shake out.

66. LS Dan Rosenberg (RS So): Rosenberg is a 6’0″, 245 lb. player who was a former starting long snapper at Holy Cross. He threw his name into the transfer portal this off-season, but as far as I know, he has yet to find a landing spot. He was on Michigan’s spring roster, and for now, I’ll assume that he stays in Ann Arbor. With Greg Tarr the almost certain starter this fall, the backup job comes down to Rosenberg – who has the most experience – and Evan Boutorwick and James Kavouklis.

Troy Bowles, Wolverine

Georgia transfer linebacker Troy Bowles has committed to Michigan after visiting this week.

Bowles is listed at 6’0″ and 200 lbs. He played just 12 defensive snaps over two games as a second-year player this past season (34 in four games as a freshman in 2023), so he will have three years of eligibility remaining. He is the son of Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles, who played linebacker at Temple before embarking on an NFL playing and coaching career.

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Visitors: December 20-22, 2024

TRANSFER PORTAL

Troy Bowles – LB – Georgia: Bowles is a 6’0″, 220 lb. linebacker who has a pre-existing relationship with linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary. Bowles played in just two games (12 defensive snaps) this past season, his second year in Athens. He would be a redshirt sophomore in the fall. Bowles is the son of Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles, who went to Temple and played eight seasons in the NFL before starting his coaching career. The younger Bowles was a 4-star, the #6 linebacker, and #80 overall in the class of 2023.

Cam Calhoun – CB – Utah: Calhoun, who signed with Michigan in 2023, spent this past season at Utah. With Will Johnson and Jyaire Hill (and D.J. Waller) blocking the way to playing time, he found greener pastures out west. Now he’s in the portal again after making 21 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception, and 9 pass breakups as a redshirt freshman for the Utes. UPDATE: Calhoun visited Alabama early in the week and committed to the Crimson Tide.

Fa’alili Fa’amoe – OT – Washington State: Fa’amoe was a 6’5″, 216 lb. strongside end in the class of 2020, and now he’s a 6’5″, 314 lb. offensive tackle who’s supposedly the #1 offensive tackle in the transfer portal, according to 247 Sports. He’s known more as a pass blocker than a run blocker, but Michigan could use some help in pass blocking after seeing right tackle Evan Link post multiple PFF grades of 0.0 in pass blocking during the 2024 season.

DeQuan Finn – QB – Baylor: Finn is a 6’2″, 206 lb. former starter at Toledo who was injured for much of the 2024 season after transferring to Baylor. He is originally from Detroit (MI) King, so playing for his home state Wolverines appears to be a pretty strong pull. An application for a seventh year waiver is in the process, but that will likely be approved, much like it was for Jack Tuttle prior to the 2024 season. Overall, Finn has completed 60.0% of his passes for 7,390 yards, 66 touchdowns, and 25 interceptions; he has also run for 1,907 yards and 27 touchdowns over his six-year career. Granted, those numbers mostly came against MAC opponents from 2019-2023, but he has a lot of time on task as a starting college quarterback.

Justice Haynes – RB – Alabama: Haynes is a 5’11”, 210 lb. runner who was a backup to Jam Miller for the Crimson Tide in 2023. Haynes ran 79 times for 448 yards and 7 touchdowns. He also caught 17 passes for 99 yards. Haynes was a 5-star back in 2023 and #24 overall in the class. With Michigan losing Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullings, there’s a void in the offensive backfield. The Wolverines have been able to feed a couple backs pretty consistently over the past several years, so Haynes would make a good 1-2 punch with Jordan Marshall, in my opinion. He’s a strong, downhill runner with some decent agility, though he lacks blazing speed.

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