When the catch is so big, you have got to live up to the price. That’s the narrative that goes with the Michigan Wolverines quarterback, Bryce Underwood. The 2024 season had been all about the big drama that came with Sherrone Moore’s Underwood flip from the LSU Tigers to the Michigan Wolverines. The price Moore had to pay? A fat $12 million check. So, the expectations from the quarterback are reaching the ceiling.

Do you remember what ESPN’s Jake Trotter said? “With all of that comes immense expectations. The Wolverines brought in veteran Mikey Keene from Fresno State to serve as a bridge quarterback. But ultimately, the onus is going to fall on Underwood to prove he’s worth the hype and money.” This might have already made Underwood buckle up. But right at the moment he was preparing to dive, he might now be having second thoughts. 

Thanks to analyst RJ Young. On the July 4 episode of the Adapt & Respond with RJ Young podcast, the host shared some important thoughts on Underwood’s Ann Arbor decision. “You’ve signed the number one player and the number one quarterback in the 2025 class in Bryce Underwood, for the cool price of $12 million over the course of his time. The University of Michigan, that in and of itself, is interesting to me. Bryce Underwood going to LSU would have made a lot more sense for me because LSU is going to be a place where you throw the ball around.” Well, there came a time last season when the Wolverines threw for just 115 yards per game through the air through six games. In today’s college football, that’s really poor. At that time, schools in the FBS level averaged over 200 yards per game through the air.

Young started to take big names to further prove his point. “Jayden Daniels, Joe Burrow, now Garrett Nussmeier. You can go for 3,000 yards, you can go for 4,000 yards, you can go for 3,000, and 1,000 as a passer and rusher if you’re Jayden Daniels won a Heisman Trophy. They don’t do that at the University of Michigan. They’ve never done that at the University of Michigan. There have been 1000-yard receivers at Michigan, but the most that we’ve seen by any single player in a season is Jeremy Gallon, who had 1373 yards, and he needed 369 against Indiana in 2013 to get to that tally.” And how could he miss the GOAT, Tom Brady? He played for Michigan from 1995 to 1999. Some more reality check for Underwood follows. 

“You could also look at who has thrown for 3,000 yards at Michigan and draw some conclusions. Tom Brady is not one of those people. Chad Henny is not one of those people. JJ McCarthy is not one of those people.” Statistically, the Wolverines haven’t thrown the football like any upper-echelon team. However, that did not affect them in any way in winning games. Underwood’s team’s passing offense ranked 44 (250.3 YPG) in 2020, 68 (228.7 YPG) in 2021, 83 (219.9 YPG) in 2022, and 82 (213.7 YPG) in 2023. On the other hand, their rushing offense ranked 2020: 95th-ranked (131.5 YPG), 2021: 15th-ranked (214.3 YPG) 2022: 5th-ranked (238.9 YPG), 2023: 55th-ranked (169 YPG). So, what’s the moral of the story that Underwood needs to know?

Young shared, “What I’m saying is the sauce for the University of Michigan is not one that depends on a 3000-yard passer. In fact, you might argue they’re a worse football team when they have a 3000-yard passer.” Now that Underwood has already punched the Ann Arbor ticket, Moore has to protect him.

Will Bryce Underwood second-guess his Michigan switch? 

It’s high time that Michigan gets rid of its quarterback curse. As one Big Ten coach sprinkled salt on the Wolverines’ wound, “They would’ve been a serious postseason contender last year if they had a quarterback on the roster.” Not to witness a déjà vu moment, Moore went to great lengths to woo Underwood. Now that he is locked, here comes a reminder. “The focus is on [Bryce] Underwood, but it should be on finding new backs to go with him.”

Moore has already laid out a safety net for Underwood by signing receivers like Justice Haynes (Alabama), CJ Hester (UMass), and John Volker (Princeton). Now, do these receivers have to be exceptionally good to keep attacks at bay for Underwood? Not at all. As Gerald V Dixon shared, “Yeah, keep the Michigan thing the Michigan thing, especially on offense, and I’m talking about running the football and protecting him in the understanding of you don’t have to be Superman as a young man. Because when you get a young, talented quarterback that comes in, everyone wants to play with the new toy. ‘Let’s see what we can do, let’s RPO, let’s run him, let’s have him throw the ball 30-40 times.’ NO!” So, can Underwood get a sound sleep?

Unfortunately not. With their key protector, Colston Loveland, gone, Sherrone Moore cannot blindly count on his returning receivers to keep Bryce Underwood 100% safe. The reason? They don’t have anybody returning that have more than 140 yards receiving last year. Fredrick Moore came up with 128 yards, Semaj Morgan with 139 yards, and Peyton O’Leary with 102 yards. No one could make it to the 150 receiving yards club. The need of the hour for Underwood is to have some friendly pieces who will help him to get the pigskin out of his hand and come up with dynamic plays. As Underwood begins his journey with the Wolverines, one can’t help but wonder if he’ll question his choice.