Michigan added an excellent pass-rusher this offseason in John Henry Daley, a Utah transfer. However, Daley won’t be participating in spring practices as he’s still recovering from a rupture in his Achilles he suffered last season. However, the 6-foot-4, 255-pound edge rusher gave the media a recovery update on Monday.
“I mean, physically, upper body-wise, I’m probably the best I’ve ever been in my life,” Daley said, per Josh Henschke of Maize and Blue Review. “Obviously, with regard to my injury,
I’m coming along really well. I’m starting to jog and run right now, and yeah, I’m feeling fantastic, and everybody’s very optimistic about it.”
Daley even gave a specific date by which he expects to be fully recovered.
“I think I’ve already communicated that with Coach Whitt, but yeah, June 1st is when they’re expecting me to be full go, being able to participate in all the team activities, and yeah, it’ll be really soon,” Daley said.
Last season, Daley had 48 tackles (17.5 for loss) with 11.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in 11 games last season. The hope is that he will put up or exceed these numbers as a member of Michigan. Daley detailed what he’s been doing as part of his recovery to get him in game shape.
“Just a whole lot of lower-body exercises,” Daley said. “We’re just getting after it every day. You’d have to ask the training staff about that. But yeah, we do. We do a lot every single day. I’m here every day and putting in that work because it’s worth it.”
Earlier this offseason, head coach Kyle Whittingham spoke about what Daley brings to the Wolverines.
“He’s a guy that has an incredible motor. He plays every snap as if it was his last. A tremendously talented young man,” Whittingham said. Was leading the nation in sacks last year before he went down with an injury. We feel he probably woulda led the nation if he had stayed healthy all year. He’s just a relentless, throwback type of defensive end. He’s just physical, but he’s got great pass rush ability.”
As long as there are no setbacks in Daley’s rehab, he sounds like a force to be reckoned with in 2026.
