There's been a lot of talk around Michigan starting QB Bryce Underwood recently. Former NFL player Eric Weddle went on the Zero 2 Sixty podcast and said he wouldn't be surprised if Underwood got benched this season. His bashing of Underwood has received a lot of attention, including from Underwood himself, who seemed to laugh and imply that he's being slept on, in an Instagram story post.
While Tommy Carr had a fantastic Spring and looks like a great recruiting find, benching Underwood is, barring something completely unseen, not even close to being on the table this season. People seem to forget that Underwood was viewed by many as a generational quarterback prospect, and that he hadn't even turned 18 before being given the starting job as a freshman.
Underwood was starting as a freshman and didn't have a ton of help in terms of pass protection and high end targets. His best receiver was another freshman - Andrew Marsh. Underwood was, in all honestly, set up for failure last season when you take into account the coaching malpractice that Sherrone Moore was doing. Underwood didn't even have a QB coach. And despite all of that, Underwood threw for nearly 2,500 yards and ran for another 400.
Yes, the efficiency wasn't there at times and turnovers were an issue. But it's clear that Underwood has superstar potential and should be much improved under this new coaching staff. But with that being said, what are appropriate expectations for Underwood in 2026?
Underwood should be much more efficient
The range of 2,400-3,000 passing yards seems like a good estimate for this coming season. That would put him around where he was as a freshman, which might sound concerning to some. The real growth, however is going to come in his efficiency. Underwood completed only 60.3% of his passes as a freshman, with 11 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.
The expectation for his sophomore season should be that the touchdowns will rise and the interceptions will fall. Underwood is going to have a much better receiver group this season, and that should be reflected in his efficiency. I'd expect Underwood to have between 18-25 passing touchdowns, and hopefully only 5-7 interceptions. At the very least, a fair goal should be a 2:1 touchdown to interception ratio.
Utah's quarterback in 2025, Devon Dampier, threw for 2,490 yards, with 24 passing touchdowns and just 5 interceptions. It wouldn't surprise me to see Underwood have a very similar stat line in 2026.
There should be significant rushing improvements
Ever since this new staff came together, we've been hearing that Jason Beck will use Bryce Underwood as a runner far more than Sherrone Moore did. Running is one of Underwood's greatest talents, and it needs to be used as a weapon. Continuing the comparison to Devon Dampier, the Utah QB rushed for 835 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2025. Underwood rushed for 392 yards and 6 touchdowns.
We saw how dangerous Underwood can be as a rusher. With more opportunities, he should be able to approach the numbers that Dampier had a season ago.
Bryce Underwood should be an All-Conference player
As a whole, this would put Underwood at 3,500-4,000 total yards on the season, as well as 30 touchdowns. That would be an incredible jump from his 17 touchdowns as a freshman. But with Jason Beck's offense as well as the tremendous offensive skill that the Wolverines have, this should be a reasonable goal for Underwood.
The talent at the quarterback position is very high next season. Dante Moore is the potential No. 1 pick in next year's NFL draft, and Julian Sayin is going to put up big numbers again. Indiana and Penn State are bringing in talented transfer quarterbacks in TCU transfer Josh Hoover and Iowa State transfer Rocco Becht. Washington and USC both have very talented quarterbacks in Desmond Washington and Jayden Maiava.
So while calling Bryce Underwood an All-Big Ten first team or second team selection is likely a stretch, third team or honorable mention should be within reach. Any All-Conference honors for Underwood would mean a significant leap from last year's production, and that's what should be expected. Underwood has the potential to be the best quarterback in the country, and this season, we should expect him to get closer to realizing that potential.
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