ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Michigan football has had no problem filling needs through transfers the last few seasons, but the portal is always give-and-take, so the program has also lost several players along the way.
Jim Harbaugh has added talented transfers such as Mike Danna, Olusegun Oluwatimi, and Eyabi Anoma over the years. This season, he expects production from Ernest Hausmann, Drake Nugent, LaDarius Henderson, Josiah Stewart, and others.
But for every player added through the portal, there’s one who leaves, and in this sense, Michigan is no different.
Former Wolverines are listed on rosters throughout college football, from Washington to Florida to Boston College. Some of those players were never going to contribute at Michigan, but others would have had major roles during the upcoming season.
On paper, this is the best team Harbaugh has had at Michigan, and the preseason rankings bear that out. The Wolverines are No. 2 in both the AP and Coaches polls, only behind two-time defending champion Georgia.
Returning players and incoming transfers are two top factors in those preseason expectations. But who will Michigan miss the most from the players no longer wearing Maize and Blue?
1. TE Erick All
- New school: Iowa
- Left Michigan: December 2022
Michigan has an excellent returning tight end in sophomore Colston Loveland, but All would have made up half of the best duo in the nation.
He missed almost the entire 2022 season due to injury, but as a junior in 2021, All caught 38 passes for 437 yards and two touchdowns. He’s best remembered for the 47-yard touchdown scamper at Penn State that saved Michigan’s season.
All isn’t regarded fondly in Ann Arbor after a less-than-amicable breakup, but he certainly has more big-play potential than the remaining No. 2 options.
2. DB R.J. Moten
- New school: Florida
- Left Michigan: April 2023
Moten’s departure was a bit of a shock after he started 10 games at safety last season. In 29 career games at Michigan, he made 65 tackles.
Safety isn’t necessarily a weakness for Jesse Minter’s defense, but Moten was in the mix to start again in 2023, and at the very least, he certainly would have been part of the rotation.
3. WR A.J. Henning
- New school: Northwestern
- Left Michigan: April 2023
There aren’t many players on this list who would have been surefire starters for Michigan this season, but Henning is one of them.
His playing time on offense was often sporadic, but Henning was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team as a returner last season after earning Third-Team honors in 2021. His teammates also named him their Special Teams Player of the Year last season.
Michigan has a handful of players capable of being dangerous in the return game, but Henning was a known commodity who protected the ball, scored on a punt last season, and took a kickoff the distance two years ago.
He could carry the ball out of the backfield, catch a pass, and give Michigan great field position on special teams. In 2021, Henning scored a critical early touchdown against Ohio State in the program’s most important game this century.
None of Henning’s individual contributions stood out, but as a whole, he was a very valuable player.
4. WR Andrel Anthony
- New school: Oklahoma
- Left Michigan: January 2023
What a strange career Anthony had at Michigan. He burst onto the scene out of nowhere at Michigan State in 2021, catching six passes for 155 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Then, in the season and a half that followed, he managed just 173 yards on 13 total catches.
J.J. McCarthy rarely targeted Anthony last season, and even when he did, they didn’t seem to be on the same page. Given his obvious talent, it wasn’t a surprise to see Anthony move on and try his luck in another offense.
Even when he wasn’t getting the ball, Anthony blocked well downfield and gave the offense a downfield threat. He might not have gotten as many targets as Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson this upcoming season, but he probably would have been WR No. 3.
5. QB Cade McNamara
- New school: Iowa
- Left Michigan: November 2022
Michigan fans are going to be so, so mad that I put McNamara in the top five. I get it, he didn’t exactly leave the program with grace, but he’s far (and I mean far) better than any backup quarterback option left on the roster.
Michigan’s entire 2023 season hinges on the health of McCarthy, and if he were to get injured, there’s not a whole lot of insurance in the quarterback room. Jack Tuttle spent four years at Indiana, but he only threw 12 passes last year and has more career interceptions than touchdowns.
McNamara, for anyone who’s forgotten, led the Wolverines to a Big Ten championship in 2021, completing 64.2% of his passes for 15 touchdowns and six picks. Is he a top-tier quarterback? No. But he’s already proven he can win at the highest level in this conference, and while it’s no longer realistic to keep a player like that on your roster as a backup, it certainly would have been nice.
6. DB Myles Sims
- New school: Georgia Tech
- Left Michigan: April 2019
Michigan is thin at cornerback behind Will Johnson and Mike Sainristil, and Sims theoretically could have been a perfect candidate to compete for a rotation spot.
A four-star prospect from the class of 2018, Sims chose Michigan over Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Clemson, Florida State, and a host of others. He left Ann Arbor after one season and has spent the past four years at Georgia Tech.
Sims played in 29 games from 2019-2021 before becoming a full-time starter last season. In 12 games, he made 43 tackles and broke up three passes.
The numbers aren’t flashy, but Sims is 6-foot-3, and it’s hard not to wonder what he might have become working under the likes of Steve Clinkscale, Mike Macdonald, and Jesse Minter the past few years. At the very least, he likely would have had a significant role in the secondary this season.
7. QB Joe Milton III
- New school: Tennessee
- Left Michigan: February 2021
The last time Michigan wasn’t a championship-caliber football program, it was Milton at the helm of the offense. As a result, he probably gets remembered a bit more harshly than he deserves.
But as rough as the 2020 season was for Milton, he’s gone to Tennessee and worked himself into a likely starting role for 2023. He earned it after starter (and new Detroit Lion) Hendon Hooker tore his ACL in November. Milton took over and led the Volunteers to a 56-0 win at Vanderbilt and an upset of Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
Milton was a highly ranked recruit out of high school who hit some turbulence at Michigan and again when he first got to Tennessee. But he finished 2022 with a 64.6% completion rate, an average of 11.8 yards per attempt, 10 touchdowns, and no interceptions.
For the same reasons outlined in the McNamara section above, it would be great to have Milton on the Michigan roster, even though it isn’t realistic to keep someone of his caliber without an available starting spot.
8. LB Nikhai Hill-Green
- New school: Charlotte
- Left Michigan: April 2023
Hill-Green’s decision to transfer was another surprise after he spent the entire 2022 season recovering from injury, but he decided to follow former Michigan staffer Biff Poggi to Charlotte.
During Michigan’s Big Ten title run in 2021, Hill-Green made 50 tackles while playing in all 14 games and starting six at linebacker. The Wolverines have a trio of high-end linebackers ahead of him in Junior Colson, Michael Barrett, and Hausmann, but Hill-Green probably would have been in the rotation every game.
Jimmy Rolder saw defensive action in nine games as a true freshman, so Michigan isn’t without linebacker depth, but it took a hit with the loss of Hill-Green.
9. DL Aaron Lewis
- New school: Rutgers
- Left Michigan: July 2020
I think this list drops off quite a bit after the top eight, but there are still a handful of players who would have seen the field for Michigan in 2023.
Lewis is one of them. He never actually made it to Michigan, instead transferring to Rutgers and carving out a role over the past three seasons.
Last year, Lewis made 20 solo tackles, 54 total tackles, and 1.5 sacks. He’s got a total of 4.5 sacks in his career.
Michigan has a talented defensive line, but Lewis would have been in the mix for the two-deep.
10. OL Zach Carpenter
- New school: Indiana
- Left Michigan: December 2020
The offensive line in Ann Arbor is doing just fine, winning the Joe Moore Award each of the past two seasons. But Carpenter is higher on this list because he’s one of the few players who have transferred from Michigan and become Power Five starters.
Before his decision to transfer, Carpenter was the presumed favorite to start at center for Michigan in 2021 because he did so for two games during the COVID-shortened campaign. He earned the nod at Indiana last season and played in 10 games.
11. WR Giles Jackson
- New school: Washington
- Left Michigan: April 2021
Jackson didn’t get a warm reception when he returned to the Big House as a Husky in 2021. Fans remembered how he slandered the program and tried to dissuade recruits on his way out of town.
But from a pure football perspective, Jackson would probably be Michigan’s starting kick returner if he hadn’t left. He returned 37 kicks during his time with the Wolverines, averaging 26.4 yards per attempt and scoring two touchdowns.
He’s underwhelmed so far as a wide receiver, catching just 28 passes for 328 yards even with Heisman Trophy candidate Michael Penix at the helm last season, but Jackson is similar to Henning in his versatility.
12. QB Alan Bowman
- New school: Oklahoma State
- Left Michigan: December 2022
He might not have seen the field very often, but Bowman went 25-3 in two seasons at Michigan and seems to have landed at another excellent program where he can compete for a starting job. This guy knows what he’s doing.
Bowman was a veteran presence for both McNamara and McCarthy as they became first-time starters the last two seasons, and that was valuable enough for Harbaugh to pursue him out of the transfer portal in 2021 and keep him around for 2022.
If Bowman is good enough to start for Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State -- a program that has gone 156-75 during his tenure -- he probably would have been Michigan’s No. 2 in 2023.
13. RB Christian Turner
- New school: Indiana
- Left Michigan: December 2020
Michigan isn’t exactly thin at running back with both Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards returning, but everyone knows Harbaugh uses at least three guys out of the backfield, and Turner would have had a chance to be No. 3 this season.
After earning 64 carries as a true freshman and sophomore at Michigan from 2018-2019, Turner went to Wake Forest and racked up 1,022 yards and 12 touchdowns on 254 carries the last two years.
We’ll see what he can do now that he’s back in the Big Ten for one final season.
14. DB Andre Seldon
- New school: New Mexico State
- Left Michigan: January 2022
Despite his 5-foot-8 frame, Seldon was a top 200 recruit coming out of Belleville in 2020. He enrolled early, and there was some excitement about his chance to contribute as a sophomore in 2021.
But that never materialized, and Seldon has become a starting cornerback at New Mexico State. He’s widely expected to be one of the best defensive backs in Conference USA this season.
15. DL George Rooks
- New school: Boston College
- Left Michigan: December 2022
Rooks was a top 300 prospect in the 2021 class and chose Michigan over the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Penn State. Unfortunately, he hadn’t quite worked his way into much of a role on defense.
Rooks appeared in six games last season and probably would have gotten into most of them in 2023. Instead, he’ll try to take on a bigger role at Boston College.
16. DL Julius Welschof
- New school: Charlotte
- Left Michigan: January 2023
Welschof played in all 28 games the last two seasons for Michigan’s special teams unit. He went to Charlotte to get some defensive playing time during his last season of eligibility.
17. LB Deuce Spurlock
- New school: Florida
- Left Michigan: January 2023
Spurlock was a top scout team player as a true freshman last year but wasn’t going to see much defensive playing time this season. His departure will be felt more beyond 2023.
18. DB Jordan Morant
- New school: Mississippi State
- Left Michigan: April 2022
At the time of his commitment, Morant was ranked the top safety in his class, according to 247 Sports. But by the end of his sophomore season, he was playing almost exclusively on special teams.
Morant transferred to Duke but then flipped to Mississippi State about a month later. He appeared in all 13 games last season, making 11 tackles.
19. OL Nolan Rumler
- New school: Kent State
- Left Michigan: December 2021
A top 200 prospect in the class of 2019, something tells me Rumler would have been much-improved had he stayed at Michigan under Sherrone Moore the last two seasons.
Would he be starting over the likes of Trevor Keegan, Drake Nugent, and Zak Zinter? Probably not, but you can never have too many offensive linemen.
20. TE Louis Hansen
- New school: Connecticut
- Left Michigan: December 2022
As a former four-star recruit who spent the past two years with the program, Hansen might have had a shot at the No. 2 tight end spot behind Loveland. But Michigan has plenty of unproven depth at the position.
21. LB Cornell Wheeler
- New school: Kansas
- Left Michigan: June 2021
The former West Bloomfield High School star has seen time on special teams since transferring to Kansas.
22. WR George Johnson III
- New school: Massachusetts
- Left Michigan: January 2022
Johnson was a special teams contributor for Michigan two seasons ago and probably would have had that same role in 2023.
He caught 28 passes for 402 yards at UMass last season.
23. QB Dan Villari
- New school: Syracuse
- Left Michigan: January 2022
Villari had 35 rushing yards and 26 passing yards for the 2021 Big Ten championship team, but he was never going to be the starting quarterback at Michigan.
Last season, he caught one pass for 22 yards at Syracuse.
24. OL Jack Stewart
- New school: Connecticut
- Left Michigan: April 2022
Stewart was the fifth member of a Michigan offensive line class that included four-stars Trevor Keegan, Trente Jones, Karsen Barnhart, and Rumler.
He moved to the defensive line but never saw game action in three seasons at Michigan. He’s listed as an offensive lineman for UConn this season.
25. RB Jordan Castleberry
- New school: UT Martin
- Left Michigan: January 2020
Originally a walk-on at Michigan, Castleberry spent one season with Maryland and is now at Tennessee-Martin.
He’s rushed for 302 yards and a touchdown while averaging over 5 yards per carry the last two seasons.
26. K Cole Hussung
- New school: Louisville
- Left Michigan: January 2022
His only kickoff for Michigan was a touchback, so there’s that.
27. RB Gaige Garcia
- New school: Lehigh
- Left Michigan: May 2021
Garcia was expected to be more of a factor as a wrestler than a football player at Michigan. He rushed for 129 yards and four touchdowns and caught 11 passes for 70 yards at Lehigh last season.
28. WR Kyle McNamara
- New school: UTEP
- Left Michigan: September 2020
Yes, it’s his brother.
Kyle McNamara left Michigan a couple months after enrolling and went to Western Kentucky. He recorded one tackle and is now at UTEP, where his other brother, Jake, a former three-star recruit, plays quarterback.
