Michigan Football: Are Wolverines done with transfers after Nolan Ulizio?

Former Michigan football player Nolan Ulizio is transferring to Pittsburgh but is he going to be the last player to transfer from the Wolverines?

At one time, Nolan Ulizio was starting offensive lineman for the Michigan football team, but after putting his name in the transfer portal recently, he announced his intent to transfer to Pittsburgh Sunday.

Of course, it’s not a huge loss for the Michigan football program. That’s not to say Ulizio isn’t a nice player or couldn’t have provided some solid depth for the Wolverines but it was clear why he was leaving. He earned a degree and still wanted to play and that just wasn’t going to happen at Michigan.

After starting a few games in the 2017 season, he was replaced in the lineup at offensive tackle and never made his way back. This past season, he was never really in the mix and didn’t appear to be in the future either, especially with Jon Runyan Jr. back, along with Andrew Stueber, Jalen Mayfield, Ryan Hayes and incoming freshmen Trente Jones and Trevor Keegan.

Michigan football is pretty stout along the offensive line and once you get passed up on the depth chart, it’s hard to move your way back up. Here’s the announcement from Ulizio on Twitter.

While the move finalizes the departure of Ulizio, it got me thinking, is the senior offensive lineman going to be the last Michigan football player to transfer before next season?

The answer to that question is probably no. Michigan has been hit with a lot of transfer and most of the time, it’s for the same reason — the depth chart. Some fans try to act like it’s some issue with Jim Harbaugh when in reality, most guys don’t get to play as much as they hoped and they bail. It happens.

But if there anyone of consequence that could transfer before next season?

The one name that I expected to hear some rumblings about was backup quarterback Brandon Peters. He appears to be behind at least Shea Patterson and Dylan McCaffrey on the depth chart and who knows, Joe Milton could be ahead of him too.

If Peters hasn’t seen the writing on the wall yet, maybe he will during spring practice but it seems unlikely he will ever be the starting quarterback for the Wolverines. But even if he were to transfer this offseason, he would probably have to sit a year, unless he dropped down to the FCS.

However, if Peters stays and is able to graduate this season, he could transfer next year and be free to play right away anywhere. At this point, that may be his best option and it makes sense for him to be on the roster for the 2019 season.

Outside of that, transfers can happen at any time. I mean few would have expected James Hudson to leave, but sometimes, things happen and players realize they might fit better somewhere else. That’s what happened with Ulizio and we will see if he’s followed by anyone else.