History shows Michigan QB Bryce Underwood should vastly improve in 2026

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Coming out of high school, Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood was at the very top of his recruiting class. As the No. 1 recruit in the nation in 2025, he has always had high expectations, but didn’t quite live up to his lofty status as a true freshman. He finished his first season completing 202-of-335 passes for 2,428 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also ran 88 times for 392 yards and six touchdowns.

The expectation is Underwood can make a sophomore leap, especially with a dedicated quarterbacks coach and new offensive coordinator. To get a glimpse at what that leap might look like, let’s take a look at how three other quarterbacks that were ranked No. 1 overall in their recruiting class improved from Year 1 to Year 2.

Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence (2018 No. 1 Recruit)

Trevor Lawrence is often looked at as one of the best quarterback recruits in recent memory. In his freshman season, he completed 65.2 percent of his passes and threw for 3,280 yards, 20 touchdowns and four interceptions. As a sophomore, his completion percentage went up to 65.8 percent while he threw for 3,665 yards, 36 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Where Lawrence may have improved even more as a sophomore was on the ground. He carried the ball 60 times as a freshman for 177 yards and one touchdown. As a sophomore, he had 103 carries for 563 yards and nine touchdowns.

Ohio State/Texas QB Quinn Ewers (2021 No. 1 Recruit)

Quinn Ewers started his career in Columbus, but ended up at Texas. He had a few injuries during his time as a starter, but he still had great success in Austin.

Unlike Underwood, Ewers didn’t throw any passes at Ohio State as a true freshman, but he did play as a redshirt freshman at Texas in 2022. That year, he completed 58.1 percent of his passes for 2,177 yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. Those numbers are pretty comparable to Underwood’s from this past year, and that’s with a year of practices under Ewer’s belt.

Ewers took a huge leap forward as a sophomore, completing 272-of-394 passes (69.0 percent) for 3,479 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also improved on his run game, going from -52 yards rushing in 2022 to 75 yards rushing and five touchdowns on the ground.

Ewers helped lead his team to the CFP by the time his college career wrapped up, while also showing a ton of improvement from his first year to his second year as a starter. This just goes to show that just because Underwood’s freshman season didn’t live up to the hype doesn’t mean he needs to get out of Ann Arbor.

Texas QB Arch Manning (2023 No. 1 recruit)

The story with Arch Manning is a complicated one. As the top recruit in the country, a lot of the fanbase wanted to see him taking more snaps ahead of Ewers. As a true freshman, though, Manning only had five attempts for 30 yards. Not much to write home about.

The Longhorns used him more in 2024. He completed 61-of-90 attempts while splitting some time with Ewers. He threw for 939 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions, while also rushing 25 times for 108 yards and four touchdowns.

Those stats are going to look different from Underwood’s because Manning had some time to sit behind Ewers for a couple years. Underwood was thrown into the fire right away and wasn’t far off from Manning’s stats in 2025 when he was finally the starter.

Conclusion

Here’s the thing with Underwood — we all need to have some patience. It’s tough when everyone hoped he’d be able to step onto the field and have an impact similar to Lawrence, who played great from the beginning. He showed flashes of his potential as a freshman in 2025, and that was with a relatively inexperienced offense and a coaching staff that often didn’t put him in the best position to succeed.

However, with the moves the new coaches have made on offense this offseason and the experience they bring to the table, Underwood has everything he should need to improve immensely in 2026.

What are your expectations for Underwood in 2026? Let us know in the comments below!

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