The Michigan Wolverines will be playing in the ReliaQuest Bowl opposite the Alabama Crimson Tide on New Year’s Eve, but they’re already looking to next year. Their top recruit for their 2025 class, local quarterback Bryce Underwood, has started practicing with the team already—and fans are impressed, to say the least.
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Underwood took to the field this past week as an early enrollee, though he won’t be able to play in the Bowl game. Seeing him with pads on at a collegiate practice, his size was even more jarring. Even when you already know his 6’4″, 208-pound measurables.
Bryce Underwood takes the field for practice ahead of the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa. pic.twitter.com/hi7yhgP79x
— Tony Garcia | Detroit Free Press (@RealTonyGarcia) December 27, 2024
Underwood isn’t the only massive QB on Michigan’s roster either. The youngster will join Alex Orji, a veteran entering his fourth year with the Wolverines in 2025. He stands 6’3″ and 236 pounds.
for comparison's sake:
Michigan QBs Bryce Underwood and Alex Orji pic.twitter.com/Ts5X3Y0V4s
— Alejandro Zúñiga (@ByAZuniga) December 27, 2024
The sheer size of the young quarterback had fans astonished:
Large human
— Intent To Deceive (@nezzy21) December 27, 2024
big boi
— Nammer (@nnammmer) December 27, 2024
That’s a 17 year old? Goodness
— Thundoer Yang (@thundoer76890) December 27, 2024
This guy is a tree
— Fanstake (@FanstakeHQ) December 27, 2024
Underwood originally intended to attend LSU but flipped to Michigan a couple of weeks before National Signing Day. He grew up in Belleville, MI, just a 30-minute drive down the I-94 from Ann Arbor and Michigan University. Home was clearly a factor there. However, some believe it was a heftier NIL bag that convinced Underwood to stay close to home.
Underwood was just awarded nearly every trophy imaginable for his performance as a high school senior—right after receiving most of those awards as a junior as well. By the time he signed on December 4, he was a five-star recruit rated as the No. 1 high school recruit in the nation by everyone from ESPN to 247Sports.
The fact that he was so highly rated across the board made his commitment flip that much more surprising. Michigan was a perennial CFP contender for nine years under Jim Harbaugh from 2015-2023, but they had a noticeable dip in form in 2024 after winning the National Championship in 2023 in Harbaugh’s swan song.
His replacement, Sherrone Moore, kept the ship relatively steady, but not CFP steady. The team went 7-5, their worst record in a non-COVID year since Brady Hoke’s final year in 2014. It was also their first season finishing unranked in a non-COVID season since 2017. Bryce Underwood isn’t exactly joining a program on the rise.
However, a few NIL bucks and the comfort of home are much stronger factors than the success of the program. Looking at those broad shoulders, it seems Underwood might have what it takes to carry the Wolverines back to relevance on his own anyhow.
