For all the hype surrounding Bryce Underwood entering the 2025 season, the year was far from flawless. The highly touted quarterback, whose NIL valuation reportedly reached $12 million, endured stretches where his passing accuracy wavered and his footwork and mechanics came under scrutiny. Those issues were particularly evident during Michigan’s matchup against Brent Venables’ Oklahoma. His performance highlighted some of the growing pains in his game. Yet even amid those struggles, there were encouraging signs that suggested the long-term outlook remained as promising as ever.

There was always an understanding that Underwood would need time. The 2025 season marked his first real test against college defenses, and many analysts believed a second year in the system would be necessary before he fully mastered the offense and its demands. Since then, Underwood has gained that experience and completed spring with Michigan. Yet questions remain. Many analysts, including NFL veteran Eric Weddle, aren’t confident in Underwood’s ability to zip that ball effortlessly from the pocket throughout the season.

“The four losses were to good teams,” former Utah All-American and 2022 Super Bowl champion Eric Weddle said today on ‘The Coach JB Show with Big Smitty.’ “I see what I’m saying. Are they coaching him up? Of course. Are they going to try to get him the best he can? Of course. Honestly, I would hope that he couldn’t care less about what people like me think. But if he does, go prove me wrong. Okay.”

Weddle has criticized Underwood previously as well, but faced heavy backlash for doing so. However, he only outlined the problems in the QB’s game, which he felt would be a major issue going forward.

Offensive Coordinator Jason Beck’s schemes demand pre-snap motions and QB-designed runs and will be much more dynamic than last year. Though Underwood is a physically imposing player, he still needs faster processing speeds, including quick decision-making. Considering Underwood held the ball too long in games and had troubles in pre-snap reads, it can be alarming for head coach Kyle Whittingham’s 2026 ambitions.

Weddle even predicted that the player could potentially lose his starting spot after what he had seen from Underwood in a live game.

“Mark my words, I was out there for spring ball,” Weddle said on the Zero 2 Sixty Podcast in May. “Don’t be surprised if the backup [is] playing early because that Underwood kid, you know, I don’t think he could throw or play quarterback, so we’ll see.”

Weddle was at Michigan’s campus for his son’s recruitment, who is a 2028 5-star safety prospect, and that’s when he saw Underwood play under center. Owing to that, Weddle, when he appeared on the Zero 2 Sixty Podcast, predicted backup QB Tommy Carr to start ahead of a high-profile QB like Underwood. That immediately drew sharp reactions, and now Weddle has backed his opinion.

There were a few instances that can back up Weddle’s statement. Against Oklahoma last year, Underwood managed to complete just 37.5% of his passes for 142 yards and couldn’t contribute in the rushing game. Throughout the game, Underwood struggled with accuracy, especially on intermediate throws, and easily looked overwhelmed against a playoff contender like Oklahoma. As the season progressed, the issues didn’t really fade.

Against Ohio State, many gave leeway to Underwood, given how dominant the Buckeyes’ defense was last year. But when the team played Texas in the Citrus Bowl, Michigan again became clueless under center. The 6’4″ and 228 lbs freshman could only complete 54.8% of his passes, and underthrew many passes or threw them in traffic. Ideally, those issues should have been resolved by now after the spring camp, but that seems not to be the case.

“I think about every other place we went, and I said, ‘Man, he is behind the eightball of all these other quarterbacks,'” Weddle added on The Coach JB Show with Big Smitty podcast. “So spring ball goes, he doesn’t look very well. I hear comments after comments about the other kid (Tommy Carr). And I just said, ‘Don’t be surprised because coach Whit, they want to run the football. They want to play great defense. They don’t want to turn the ball over, okay? And if he’s not playing up to the standard, then don’t be surprised.”

On April 18, in Michigan’s annual spring game, Underwood could complete just 3 of his 9 passes for 22 yards. Among his throws, he fired one into traffic that the receiver eventually dropped, while several others fell incomplete. This was another poor performance that added to Weddle’s point. Although there has been a lot of criticism, Kyle Wittingham believes the player is improving behind the scenes.

“He progressed all through spring, and some things may not have been noticeable to the general populace,” Whittingham said in April. “His footwork, pocket presence, he’s improved in all areas. He has work to do. He knows that, but he’s ahead of where he was last season.”

Underwood completed 60.3%  of his passes for 2,428 yards last season for the Wolverines. He is aware that these are not jaw-dropping numbers, and if he wants to shut down critics, his performances will have to improve. With a new coach at the helm, a few changes could be seen in the way the quarterback plays next season.

How is Kyle Whittingham ensuring Bryce Underwood’s success this year?

Despite those 2025 struggles, Underwood showed that he can play in UM’s pressure-cooker environment. He still had some decent performances against teams like Washington, in which he led the team to a dominant 24-7 win, while passing for 230 yards. Additionally, the UM QB1 also didn’t have a dedicated QBs coach last year under Sherrone Moore’s staff, which isn’t the case this year.

“I’ve got to use the guys around me. That’s on me to find out what they do best,” Underwood told ON3’s Chris Low. “I’ve just touched the ground a little bit, sort of got my feet wet a little bit. I feel like that’s all anybody has seen from me. I feel like we’re in a great space with the right mindset. I’m here for my team, no matter if it’s me running, me passing the ball, or me laying a block. Whatever they need, that’s what I’m willing to do.”

Now, after coming from Utah, Whittingham has brought in Koy Detmer Jr, a former Utes QBs coach, to coach Underwood. Not just that, new offensive coordinator Jason Beck is also ensuring that Underwood develops as his schemes would require.

But he is also altering his schemes a little to get the UM QB1 comfortable. Hopefully, all of it will lead to a dominant season from Underwood, and he will finally prove critics like Weddle wrong.

Coach Wittingham will be hoping he can get the best out of Underwood, as he has all the tools; it’s just the execution that now needs to come out.