The transfer portal giveth and the transfer portal taketh away. Last offseason, Michigan secured the commitments of impact players such as Justice Haynes, Donaven McCulley, Damon Payne and T.J. Metcalf. However, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, as a hoard of players left for greener pastures as well.
But how did those players do in 2025 after transferring out of Ann Arbor last winter? Let’s take a look.
Going by position, we’ll start with the quarterbacks. Alex Orji left Michigan to play for Dan
Mullen at UNLV. He was part of a heated competition during fall camp before getting the start in Week 1. He threw just three passes for 37 yards, while rushing 10 times for 42 yards and a touchdown. Sadly, he suffered a grade three LCL tear in Week 2, ending his season before it even got off the ground.
Meanwhile, Jayden Denegal transferred to San Diego State and led the Aztecs to a 9-3 record. He threw for 1,807 yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions with a 58.8 percent completion percentage. He also rushed for 99 yards and four touchdowns.
At running back, there was Cole Cabana (Western Michigan), Benjamin Hall (North Carolina) and Tavierre Dunlap (Eastern Michigan). Cabana still couldn’t get healthy in Kalamazoo, playing just two games and rushing for 18 yards. Hall was part of a three-man committee in the UNC backfield, rushing 71 times for 294 yards and two touchdowns. Dunlap also saw his snaps increase significantly after leaving Ann Arbor. He wasn’t the main back in Ypsilanti, but he did rush 106 times for 428 yards and five touchdowns.
Tyler Morris (Indiana) and Amorion Walker (Middle Tennessee State) were Michigan’s only losses at wide receiver. Sadly, Morris missed Indiana’s entire Big Ten championship season after suffering a season-ending, non-contact injury in the spring. Walker played the entire season with the Blue Raiders but struggled to get playing time, hauling in just 15 receptions for 201 yards and one touchdown.
The offensive line took the biggest hit in terms of quantity, as six scholarship players transferred out. After playing center at Michigan, Dominick Giudice slid over to left guard for Missouri where he played 839 snaps, allowing just one sack and one quarterback hit. He was named the Outland Trophy National Offensive Lineman of the Week in Mizzou’s win against rival Kansas. Andrew Gentry also found a starting role at BYU, starting at right tackle in every contest.
Jeffrey Persi was the starting left tackle for Pitt before suffering an injury in Week 5 that knocked him out for more than a month. He returned in Week 10, but had middling results. Similarly, Tristan Bounds started at right tackle for Arizona in 10 games this season. He graded out surprisingly well per PFF (73.0), given his lack of playing time in Ann Arbor.
Alessandro Lorenzetti started his career at Michigan on the defensive line before being moved to the offensive side of the ball. He transferred to Baylor and moved back to the defensive line — he did not record a stat in 2025. Lastly, Raheem Anderson joined Cabana in Kalamazoo, started the entire season at center and was named First-Team All-MAC.
Michigan lost quite a bit of depth along the defensive line as Breeon Ishmail (Purdue), Aymeric Koumba (UCF), Kechaun Bennett (UCLA) and Owen Wafle (Penn State) all left last year. Ishmail was a rotational player at Purdue with 23 tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack. Koumba remained on the bench at UCF but got some playing time late in games and made one tackle. Bennett began the year as a starter before losing some playing time as the season went on — he still appeared in 11 games, tallying 25 tackles, three tackles for loss and one sack. Wafle continued to play a reserve role for Penn State, but got in eight contests and recorded three tackles.
At linebacker, Michigan’s two biggest losses were Jason Hewlett Jr. (Boston College) and Micah Pollard (Liberty). Hewlett struggled with injuries a bit but was able to play in seven games and make nine tackles. Pollard primarily came off the bench for Liberty until late in the season when he burst onto the scene. In Liberty’s second-last game, Pollard racked up 14 tackles in one game alone. He finished with 28 tackles this year.
In the secondary, both Myles Pollard and Kody Jones left for Memphis — though Jones transferred to Kennesaw State after spring ball — and Ja’Den McBurrows went to Appalachian State. Pollard did not record a stat at Memphis. Jones returned kicks and also recorded 24 tackles, six tackles for loss, two sacks, two pass deflections and one interception. McBurrows was only able to play in App State’s first two games of the season. He started out hot, tallying 11 tackles, one pass deflection, and one interception in just those two games.
Last but not least, the Wolverines lost two specialists to the portal last year. Adam Samaha transferred to North Carolina, but transferred to Akron after spring ball. There, he attempted (and made) just one extra point. Punter Tommy Doman started all 12 games at Florida, as he had 50 punts for a total of 1,927 yards with a long of 71 yards. According to PFF, he was the SEC’s best punter this season.
