Sometimes, as a football team, you really don't know what you have until you get to training camp. Once the team comes together, things become clearer, which is the case for Michigan.
Michigan football is in the second week of fall camp under first-year head coach Kyle Whittingham. You can feel the energy and the purpose of the new staff. The Wolverines have adults in the room once again, and you can see the impact.
Whittingham has put together a really good roster, too. He was able to retain just about every key Michigan football player, save Cole Sullivan, and also added some talent from Utah, too, namely John Henry Daley and JJ Buchanan, among other projected starters.
The one position where Michigan didn't add an "impact player" was at linebacker, although the Wolveirnes were able to land former North Dakota State starter, Nathaniel Staehling, who was also a former team captain.
Staehling has had a very strong camp. He's not alone, though, to the point that Michigan football defensive tackle Enow Etta pushed back on the idea that linebacker is a weakness on Friday.
Linebacker isn't a weakness says Michigan football defender
#Michigan DT Enow Etta says he doesn’t know what everyone’s talking about the linebacker unit being a weakness because they got dudes and been making plays in camp.
— Brice Marich (@BriceMarich) August 13, 2026
Etta told the media that the linebacker room has "dudes" in it, and that they have been making plays in camp. Staehling has gotten a ton of buzz. He felt like a reserve when he was added, but the former FCS linebacker, who has been a "tackling machine" in fall camp, could find his way into the starting lineup.
Troy Bowles played in all 13 games last season, finishing the season with 40 tackles. He has the most experience coming back. Chase Taylor seems to have taken a step foward, along with former five-star Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng.
There isn't a ton of experience there, but Staehling is a former starter. He had three interceptions last season for North Dakota State, too, and it has been reported that he's been clocked running at over 21 MPH.
Owusu-Boateng feels like a star in the making, and Taylor is someone Michigan football fans should feel good about. Bowles, too. Maybe there isn't the linebacker depth that the Wolverines are used to having, yet the biggest perceived weakness of the defense doesn't really seem like one.
Fall camp is fall camp. Sometimes, things that appear to be true are a mirage. Yet, if the linebackers are holding their own, especially against Michigan's offensive line (and run game), then the Wolverines have good reason to be optimistic about the production they will get in 2026.
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