Michigan football vs. Washington: Injury updates and expert picks

Michigan football and Washington are getting set for the national championship game rematch Saturday night in Seattle and on the injury front, there is good news for the Wolverines.

Last week, against Minnesota, Michigan football was without star cornerback Will Johnson, a projected top-10 pick in the 2025 NFL draft, and also Josaiah Stewart -- arguably the Wolverines' best pass rusher.

Stewart wreaked havoc against the USC Trojans with a couple of sacks and a ton of pressure. He's got four sacks so far this season. Johnson has two interception returns for touchdowns and one of them was against USC.

Yet, Johnson didn't finish the USC game and was held out of last week's game. But according to Matt Zentiz of 247 Sports, "there's continued optimism" that both will be on the field for the defending national champions who are coming into Saturday's game ranked 10th.

Washington is 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten. The Huskies are a slight favorite but the odds of Michigan winning seem much better with Will Johnson and Stewart in the lineup.

Expert picks for Michigan football vs. Washington

There was consensus among the College Gameday crew that Michigan football would knock off Washington in Seattle. However, that view is not shared by all as Joel Klatt, who follows Michigan as closely as any national analyst or broadcaster, predicted a 24-17 win for the Huskies.

Klatt has been sounding the alarm about the Wolverines saying they "look lost." We'll see if they figure things out against a Washington team that has Will Rogers and a dynamic passing attack, as well as a defense that ranks 10th in scoring defense, while Michigan is outside the top 50.

The running game will be a focal point. I predicted a Michigan win but the game feels like a toss-up and it might come down to the ability of the Michigan to manufacture offense with Alex Orji.