Ten bold predictions for the 2026 Michigan season

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The 2026 Michigan football season is just over three weeks away, and it's been a little more of a difficult offseason to assess just what these Wolverines might be.

With a coaching change, new faces on and off the field, and several difficult-to-decipher variables, making predictions about what the maize and blue might be isn't quite the same as it's been in recent years. Kyle Whittingham has shown during his over two-decade stint as the head coach at Utah that he can do more with less, so what will it look like when he has more to work with?

Michigan may be one of the more talented teams in college football, albeit a more unheralded one. Very few players are on the top college football lists, but that's in the preseason. What about at year's end when it really counts?

Here are our top 10 preseason bold predictions for Michigan football in 2026.

Bryce Underwood finishes with 3,500-plus yards of total offense

Once upon a time, we used to predict that each new season would see a quarterback break Jon Navarre's 3,331-yard single-season passing record. And yet, it still hasn't happened. If any quarterback should do it in his Michigan football career, it's Underwood, but that feels more like a prediction for next year than this one.

What we will say is that Underwood will eclipse that number in total offense.

At Utah, Devon Dampier managed 3,325 yards total, with 2,490 yards through the air and 835 on the ground. We think we'll see a little loftier numbers through the air this year from Underwood (who had 2,428 last year) and certainly more rushing attempts (and thus yards) this season. Whether that looks like 2,700 yards passing and 800 yards rushing, 2,800 yards passing and 700 yards rushing (so on, and so forth) remains to be seen. But we do believe, given that Kyle Whittingham has said that the offense is centered on Underwood, that he'll find a way to eclipse 3,500 yards of offense this year.

Jordan Marshall has an All-Big Ten, All-America season

Perhaps it's because he was playing second-fiddle for much of the season last year to Justice Haynes, or maybe it was the injury issues he had, but running back Jordan Marshall is being severely overlooked.

Just about no one has him on any preseason lists of best running backs in the country or the conference, and yet, with Jason Beck's commitment to running the football, mixed with an improved offensive line and Marshall continuing to improve, he should be considered one of the top tailbacks in the Big Ten.

Despite only starting in four games (though he carried only seven times against Ohio State), and not playing in two games, Marshall had nearly a thousand yards. And he didn't even get more than 11 carries in any of the first five games, with 14 carries coming in the USC game when Haynes first left with injury. Assuming he stays healthy, mixed with the staff's desire and shown ability to run the football, we expect Marshall to have a monster year — apparently one that no one outside of Ann Arbor sees coming.

JJ Buchanan ends up being WR1 over Andrew Marsh

Andrew Marsh has been the Michigan football hypebeast since mid-to-late season last year. And while that hasn't slowed down at all, we think he could be passed by another Wolverines wideout.

JJ Buchanan had an exemplary year at Utah last season, despite it being his first year of college football and him transitioning from tight end to wide receiver. Listed at 6-foot-4, 218 pounds, the early fall camp intel suggests that he's coming down with just about every ball thrown his way. Earlier this week, Whittingham said this about his sophomore pass catcher:

"JJ Buchanan is a special receiver. He's, at times, unguardable in practice. He's the 50-50 ball, the contested catch up the field. He's as good as anybody I've ever been around."

Given that Marsh will likely be the focal point, opposing defenses will do as much as they can to take him away, which will open up other opportunities for the second-year player out of Utah. This isn't a diatribe against Marsh as much as it's believing not only that Buchanan will end up having more opportunities, but also that he'll make the most of them.

The OL is a Joe Moore Award finalist

Michigan is just three years removed from being a Joe Moore Award finalist (2023) and four years from being a Joe Moore Award winner (2021-22). And sometimes, a change of coaching can make a big difference. Given Jim Harding's track record of coaching offensive line, this should be the right moment for a unit that showed the most improvement over the course of the season last year.

We've seen decent lines upgrade quickly with coaching changes at the position. Take the 2018 O-line, which improved greatly under Ed Warinner's tutelage after three years under Tim Drevno. The same thing happened in 2021, when Sherrone Moore took over from Warinner. Given that these were younger players last season who have the talent and ability, but just needed more experience and perhaps a more accomplished mentor, we have very high expectations for the starting five (or six) that Harding is going to put out there. So much so that we believe they will be on that final Joe Moore Award list, but not quite win (though next year, it could be a different story, in a positive way).

The defensive front is as advertised

Kyle Whittingham turned heads in the spring when he said the strength of the Michigan football team was the defensive line. Well, after seeing it in action in the spring game, he wasn't kidding around.

Starting defensive tackles Trey Pierce and Enow Etta have waited their turns to be the main guys up front (Pierce had a fair amount of time on task last year, but was still rotated in and out a fair bit). With Jonah Lea'ea joining from Utah, and Deyvid Palepale seemingly ready for primetime, the interior feels like it could be as good as the early decade squads.

But they're also bolstered by an extremely deep rotation of edge rushers who should be game wreckers. John Henry Daley was an All-American at Utah last year. Dominic Nichols is apparently coming on so strong that right tackle Andrew Sprague said on Thursday he's one of the best edge rushers in the country. Then, you've got Cam Brandt, Lugard Edokpayi — who got tons of hype at Big Ten media days — former five-star Nate Marshall, and freshman five-star Carter Meadows.

This feels like an extremely deep defensive line, and one that should challenge every offensive line it faces. Especially now, given the intel that the team is stronger than ever — don't sleep on this front four.

Rod Moore cements himself as the best safety in the Big Ten

Eminem once rapped about hip hop fans having forgotten about Dr. Dre, and it appears the same is true for football fans and media about safety Rod Moore. The sixth-year player and likely three-time team captain is a former All-Big Ten safety (he was third-team in 2023) but was often one of the best players on the field on the most talented team in the country at the time. And after an ACL tear and setbacks during rehab, he's on no one's lists, with very few expectations about what he might do this year.

But if Moore is healthy and stays healthy, there are very few defensive backs in college football with his instincts and playmaking ability. He got an interception in his second game back last year, and supposedly got one early in the first fall camp practice as well. He's been more than a player, but essentially acting as a coach the past two years. If he's ready to go and able to showcase his knowledge on the field to boot, it will be difficult for anyone to say there is a better safety in the Big Ten, and possibly beyond.

The defense is outside the top 10, but looks top 10 caliber

Defensive coordinator Jay Hill shared that, after one practice in fall camp, his defense was about 60% installed, with it being unlikely that it gets to 100% this season. Even still, they'll do what they do best in every contest, and we think it will take a big step forward this year.

Why not in the top 10 again then? Well, the caliber of offenses, particularly the quarterbacks that Michigan will be facing.

Now the good news for Michigan is that Hill has had experience by being at BYU in the Big 12 and facing off against more offensively-minded teams. The bad news is that the offensive line play his defenses will be facing will likely be of a much higher caliber.

Hill has been around the game for some time and knows what he's doing. Like with Beck and the offense, he'll be working with more talent than he ever has before. If it weren't for having to face more top-rated offensive teams, Michigan would likely be a top 10 defense. However, we think it will fall just short, thanks to the Oklahomas, Oregons, and Ohio States of the world.

Chase Taylor leads the team in tackles

If you've been following along since Kyle Whittingham took over, Chase Taylor is a linebacker that the staff is absolutely enamored with.

Entering his second year, Taylor appeared in 10 games as a true freshman and finished 24th on the team in tackles. A near-lock to be one of the two starters (Nathaniel Staehling, the transfer from North Dakota State, is trending for the other spot at the moment), Taylor is a star-in-waiting.

Most would have thought his fellow 2025 classmate, Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, to be in Taylor's position. Yet, while Owusu-Boateng will certainly be in heavy rotation, all of the intel suggests that Taylor will be the prime linebacker in the middle of Jay Hill's defense.

Linebackers are almost always a team's leading tackler, and such has been the case in Ann Arbor for a decade. Expect Taylor to become a household name and finish the season looking way ahead of his three-star recruiting ranking.

Michigan takes down at least one of the big four teams on the schedule

There are six easily losable games on the schedule (seven, if you count a road trip to Minnesota in Week 5), but really there are four games where Michigan will likely be the underdog: Oklahoma, Indiana, at Oregon, at Ohio State. And it's our belief that Michigan gets at least one of those.

The easiest of the bunch is probably the Week 2 contest against Oklahoma. While last year saw the Sooners control the game from start to finish, this game will be at home, and Bryce Underwood won't be starting in his second game, but his 15th. And this staff seems more capable of being able to game plan for a big game than the previous one (though Sherrone Moore did admittedly beat Ohio State and Alabama in 2024). Indiana is the defending national champion, but the question is how will Josh Hoover be replacing Fernando Mendoza, and how will the Hoosiers fare on the road in Ann Arbor coming off of playing the Buckeyes? At Oregon feels like close to an auto-loss (Michigan hasn't tended to fare well traveling out West, and the Ducks, in our opinion, should be the No. 1 team in the country), and who knows with Ohio State at this point.

We could see any combination of wins in those four, but also any combination of losses. Michigan could easily lose all four, but we don't think that will be the case. Give us the Oklahoma game in the Wolverines' favor, with losses to Indiana and Oregon, with the College Football Playoff on the line in Columbus.

But still goes 9-3

That doesn't necessarily mean a loss to Ohio State. Michigan certainly could also drop a game against Iowa, Minnesota, or Penn State. Some think that Michigan will lose all four of the loseable games, but we're still banking on the fact that it was a 9-3 team a year ago, despite the behind-the-scenes chaos. And with Kyle Whittingham leading the charge, this will be a visibly improved team now, just with a brutal schedule.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Ten bold predictions for the 2026 Michigan season

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