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Which players are flying under the radar?
Everyone knows the stars for the Michigan Wolverines: Donovan Edwards, Will Johnson, Mason Graham, Kenny G, and Colston Loveland are more than household names at this point. They feel like family that live in our households due to how much they are discussed on a week-to-week basis. But in between the stars, the transfers, and the unknowns, lies a group of players that have slipped through the cracks of the Michigan zeitgeist for one reason or another.
Identifying an underrated player is a funny thing. To some, the players below couldn’t possibly be underrated because they are the topic of every bar conversation you have with the boys (or girls) on the weekends. Some simply associate underrated with unknown; think of players like Zeke Berry, Fredrick Moore, or Jyaire Hill.
For this list, underrated qualifies as players who deserve more discussion. More recognition. More conversation among the general discourse. They could be stars on the rise who are seldom mentioned or role players who play a more pivotal role than some realize.
Without further ado, here are five underrated players from Team 145 entering the 2024 season.
Giovanni El-Hadi will be an All-American in 2024. It could be unanimous (unlikely), consensus, or only recognized by only one entity, but barring an injury, he is that type of talent. El-Hadi is already a proven road-grader in the run game and has had a few years to refine his pass-blocking prowess.
Despite never being a full-time starter, El-Hadi seized his opportunity as a starter for three games in 2022 due to injuries and showed zero drop-off from starter Trevor Keegan. The rising senior has played in 21 career games along the offensive line and is the next great Michigan offensive guard in waiting.
Is there a chance that Tyler Morris will be WR1 next season? This is probably unfair to Semaj Morgan, but this is a ‘what have you done for me lately?’ type of business. We have watched Morris’s highlight reel touchdown in the Rose Bowl hundreds of times by now and have sought professional help for what Morgan’s costly muffed punt in the same game nearly did to us.
Beyond the quasi-trauma, Tyler Morris is an elite athlete and flashed his explosion against a defense littered with NFL talent in Alabama. Whether he is WR1 or WR2, Morris will have his fingerprints all over this season and deserves more discussion as a rising star candidate for this team.
Name theory is real. If Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin was named Tyson Taylor would he be better remembered? Same with linebacker Ernest Hausmann. Although his name sounds like a personal injury or worker’s comp lawyer – “Have you been burned? Come on down and see Big Ern!” – Hausmann is developing into one hell of a middle linebacker.
Following a year of learning from one of Michigan’s best linebacker duos in program history, the junior now steps into a full-time starting role as the leader in the middle of the defense. Despite being new to the starting lineup, Hausmann is far from inexperienced.
In two years, Hausmann has played in 27 games across his time at Nebraska and Michigan and has rapidly improved in each season. Playing next to the exciting Maryland transfer Jaishawn Barham this season, Barham will get the praise for the sexy, splashy plays, and rightfully so. Who doesn’t love a dynamic, hard-hitting blitzing linebacker?
But don’t overlook the consistency Hausmann will bring to this team, down-in and down-out, as he relentlessly eliminates running lanes and helps force teams into one-dimensionality.
The forgotten man! If Michigan continues its trend of playing three defensive tackles on early downs, Rayshaun Benny will start on the best defensive line in football. Benny – similar to El-Hadi – has never been a consistent starter during his three years at Michigan, but has played in 31 games across the defensive front, and, when healthy, has been one of the most impactful players on the defense.
His quarterback pressure in the 2022 Ohio State game led to one of CJ. Stroud’s two late-game interceptions and his strip of Drew Allar early in the second half against Penn State eliminated the Nittany Lions’ effective quarterback run game.
If Benny can recover from the season-ending injury he suffered against Alabama, he will continue to make big plays in big games for the Wolverines.
Please understand I am writing this while listening to My Hero by the Foo Fighters.
Max Bredeson is a football player’s football player who epitomizes the physicality the Wolverines have become known for. But Bredeson isn’t of the Ben Mason vein. Sure he has some of The Program’s Lattimer to the way he finishes, but while a mauler, Bredeson is also technically proficient and a deceptively good athlete.
Bredeson is a key cog in the machine that is Michigan’s running game and without him, the drop-off would be more significant than losing the starting right tackle. No matter the running scheme, no matter the blocking assignment, Bredeson is consistently great for the Wolverines and is the most important skill player who will (almost) never touch the ball.
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