DE Lugard Edokpayi’s path to Michigan Football, outlook for 2026

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The edge room got a whole lot better with the addition of John Henry Daley, a potential All-American pass rusher who came to Ann Arbor from Utah with head coach Kyle Whittingham. Effectively deployed as the DE1 on the depth chart, everyone else took a bump down that list, including redshirt sophomore Lugard Edokpayi, who has played limited snaps but hopes to be a more bona fide rotational piece this fall.

The story so far

Edokpayi was a four-star recruit from Maryland and a borderline Top 150 consensus player in the 2024 class. At 6-foot-7, he was a monster in high school with 10 tackles for loss and five sacks in six games as a senior.

Since joining Ann Arbor, he’s added 20 pounds to his frame, but has seen limited snaps due to the overwhelming depth at the position throughout his tenure. After redshirting his freshman season, Edokpayi became a special teams contributor before cracking the rotation on defense. While his snaps were limited last season, he did play along the defensive line in seven of his eight appearances without recording any stats.

Outlook for 2026

The goal for Edokpayi is to earn even more playing time this season, but that won’t be easy. Daley and Cam Brandt project to be the starters, and Dominic Nichols and Nate Marshall are not far behind. That leaves Edokpayi likely on the third line of that group, and five-star true freshman Carter Meadows will probably have something to say as well.

All that said, Whittingham was impressed with Edokpayi coming out of the spring game, saying, “Lugard (Edokpayi) — I can’t pronounce his last name exactly quite yet, so I don’t want to butcher that — is a guy that we think can help us, as well. Big, long frame, 6-foot-7 or whatever he is, and very athletic.”

Once guys get on the field, anything can happen. All the Wolverines want is for a guy to step up and take command of that second role. It’s hard to consider Edokpayi the favorite, but he’ll throw his hat in the ring a few times for the chance to have a much larger role in 2027, and maybe sooner.

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