Much was made of Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood’s completion percentage as a true freshman in 2025. Underwood completed 60.3% of his passes. However, diving deeper into the numbers, Michigan’s receivers didn’t help him out nearly enough.
Michigan receivers dropped 29 passes last season. If those 29 drops were catches instead, Underwood’s completion percentage would have been 69%. While Underwood’s freshman season was far from perfect, a completion rate of nearly 70% would have been impressive, and if he had a little more luck, it would have helped perception of his accuracy woes. Moving forward, will Underwood have more luck on his side, as well as elevated play at receiver? There’s optimism that the answer is yes.
Michigan ranked No. 104 in passing last season, but new concepts in the passing offense could make all the difference in the world for Michigan’s wideouts.
“I feel great about it, to be honest,” receiver Andrew Marsh said about the passing game. “Moving forward this year, I feel like there’s so much freedom really route running and kind of conceptually I really feel like every five guys on a team can be an option each play.”
Underwood, a former five-star prospect and the No. 1 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class, will only reach his potential by not only improving on his craft, but having a supporting cast that does their job as well.
“It’s important we get him playing to his potential And he’s got a ton of it, I can tell you that right now,” Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham said this offseason. “His toolbox is absolutely incredible with his size and strength and speed. We’ve got to make sure we get him dialed in.”