Michigan put together a financial package worthy of an NFL player when it lured the No. 1 prospect in the country in the Class of 2025 from LSU to Ann Arbor. For that alone, Bryce Underwood was the projected starter in the post-quarterback fiasco that was 2024.
But if the Wolverines needed any more validation they got their guy for QB1 this fall — just ask Wolverines defensive end Dom Nichols. Nichols said, via a 247Sports practice report, that Underwood is showing a lot of potential through the spring.
“He's an athlete,” Nichols said, per the 247sports story. “He's good at what he does. He's just going to keep getting better … I can't talk about his progressions, because I don't know nothing about that, but he'll stay in the pocket and throw that ball when we're coming at him, so that's a good thing to see."
When a defensive player can give this evaluation, it speaks volumes to what he’s capable of doing. Per that same report, Underwood and Jadyn Davis have been splitting snaps. Davis redshirted last year, but with four years of eligibility and a loaded quarterback room, has to prove he’s worthy of taking the job from Underwood.
Bryce Underwood is already turning heads at Michigan spring practice
While Nichols’ reinforcement on Michigan’s young quarterback is appreciated, he needs to impress this spring. Underwood is under a lot of pressure to perform at a high level. Not only because the Wolverines had a miserable quarterback situation last year, but because the Wolverines’ collective shelled out more than $10 million in NIL money to flip Underwood. What a financial mistake that would be if he didn’t prove worthy of starting as a true freshman.
Michigan has had a rough run of quarterbacks through much of the Jim Harbaugh era. The best quarterback of the bunch was probably J.J. McCarthy and he wasn’t particularly an elite college quarterback.
He was gifted with an SEC-level defense and a run-heavy offense that limited how much he had to do to elevate this offense. In Sherrone Moore’s first full season leading the Wolverines, he ended up playing three quarterbacks and didn’t have a quarterback with more than 1,200 passing yards in the regular season.
Underwood was flipped under the guise that he’d not just be the guy next year, but the one of the future too. The fact that his teammates can see that now is a good sign. But nothing is solidified in the spring.