We’ve finally reached game week, with Michigan set to begin its 2026 football season on Saturday night against Western Michigan at The Big House. The offseason has been full of anticipation, and fall camp has generated plenty of optimism, particularly for the offense.
Based on all the buzz this offseason, we’ll be making one final prediction today for what Michigan’s offensive depth chart will look like when the Wolverines take the field on Saturday, with a few changes since the start of fall camp.
Quarterback
Starter: Bryce Underwood
Depth: Tommy Carr, Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, Chase Herbstreit, Brady Smigiel
Sophomore Bryce Underwood looks to lead the offense to more success this season, and by the way things have sounded in fall camp, it seems like a real possibility. He should get more opportunities in the run game, an area where he showed some promise last season, and his improvement as a passer has been generating plenty of buzz in recent weeks.
Behind Underwood on the depth chart, Kyle Whittingham declared that freshman Tommy Carr will open the season as the primary backup. This is perhaps a bit of a surprise given Colorado State transfer Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi joining the program with 28 starts under his belt (albeit not a lot of successful ones recently), but Carr has been one of the team’s more impressive freshmen since he arrived in the spring.
Running Back
Starter: Jordan Marshall
Depth: Savion Hiter, Bryson Kuzdzal, Jonathan Brown, Tomas O’Meara, Donovan Johnson
No changes here from where we were at the start of fall camp. Jordan Marshall was Michigan’s leading rusher in 2025, and he returns to lead the backfield this year. If he goes over 1,000 yards this season, a mark he came just short of last season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
Freshman phenom Savion Hiter will still get a pretty good workload both as a ball-carrier and pass-catcher out of the backfield, and potentially in the slot. He’s missed some time during the fall with a minor leg injury, but he should be good to go for Week 1. Additionally, senior Bryson Kuzdzal won’t be someone to forget about, as he’s impressed the coaching staff and should see a decent amount of snaps even behind Marshall and Hiter.
Wide Receiver
Starters: Andrew Marsh, JJ Buchanan, Channing Goodwin
Depth: Jaime Ffrench, Salesi Moa, Travis Johnson, Kendrick Bell, Jamar Browder, Jacob Washington, Logan Forbes, Jaylen Pile
Wide receiver has been the position getting the most attention during fall camp, and for good reason, with the big infusion of talent it received this offseason. Sophomores Andrew Marsh and JJ Buchanan have clearly separated themselves as the two top options. Both are supremely talented and have the versatility to play inside and out, offering Michigan the chance to mix and match other guys into formations. Meanwhile, junior Channing Goodwin was announced as the third starter by Whittingham on his radio appearance on Monday.
Goodwin was a starter in Week 1 last year as well, but issues with drops ultimately relegated him to the bench despite being one of the better separators on the team. Behind him, sophomore Jaime Ffrench and freshmen Travis Johnson and Salesi Moa will all likely play situational roles based on their skill sets. In terms of the pecking order, though, it seems like a good bet that Goodwin, Ffrench, Johnson, and Moa all finish the season with similar production and snap shares.
Tight End
Starter: Zach Marshall
Depth: Hogan Hansen, Deakon Tonieli, Mason Bonner, Jalen Hoffman, Eli Owens, Crandall Quinn
If there’s one position group I’d say the stock has taken a dip this fall camp, it’d be the tight ends, but I’d say it has more to do with the ascension of the wide receiver group and the overwhelming share of targets it’ll demand. As for how the depth shakes out at the position, senior Zach Marshall should be the starter for Week 1 after a breakout in the second half of last season and his ability as a blocker.
Further down, junior Hogan Hansen will be the No. 2 option with a glut of guys behind him who will all compete for snaps. The biggest development from this group this fall camp has been freshman Mason Bonner. At 6-foot-7, he could eventually profile to be more of a tight end-wide receiver hybrid (much like Buchanan at Utah last year) thanks to his athleticism and receiving skills that have been on display during camp. He’ll still be getting up to speed since he enrolled in June, but if there’s a wild card to emerge from this group this year, I’d bank on Bonner.
Offensive Line
Starters: LT Blake Frazier, LG Evan Link, C Jake Guarnera, RG Nathan Efobi, RT Andrew Sprague
Interior Depth: Brady Norton, Houston Ka’aha’aina-Torres, Avery Gach, Luke Hamilton, Manuel Beigel, Brooks Bahr
Tackle Depth: Andrew Babalola, Malakai Lee, Marky Walbridge, Tommy Fraumann
Coming into the fall, the offensive line was the position that was thought to be the most intriguing, particularly due to the battle at left tackle between junior Blake Frazier and sophomore Andrew Babalola. With Babalola already ruled out for the opener, Frazier will be the starter for Week 1, but his development in recent weeks could have him holding onto the job for the foreseeable future too. Right guard was also of interest, with Nathan Efobi appearing to win the battle over Brady Norton.
Something to watch as the season plays out will be who plays the “Rhino” position as the team’s sixth offensive lineman, and whoever does will still play a large number of snaps this year. Babalola seems like a good candidate once he’s back in action, as does freshman Malakai Lee, a four-star freshman who comes in at a hulking 6-foot-7 and 359 pounds.
Regardless of who’s on the field for the offensive line, this appears to be a position group that will be much improved this season. Thanks to Jim Harding’s leadership and some newfound gains in the weight room (the word on the street is that something called a “bench press” was discovered over the offseason), the offensive line should be one of the conference’s, if not the country’s, best units this year.
