Three Predictions: Michigan, Stewart, Sanders
Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney makes three big predictions on Michigan’s quarterback situation, five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart and five-star offensive tackle David Sanders Jr.
1. Michigan will not regret all its other QB commits fleeing after getting Bryce Underwood.
Even before Underwood flipped from LSU to Michigan, the Wolverines lost a commitment from four-star quarterback Carter Smith, who has since announced for Wisconsin.
And then on Friday, 2026 four-star quarterback Brady Hart from Cocoa, Fla., flipped his commitment from the Wolverines to Texas A&M.
Those two losses hurt. But Underwood is worth it. The Belleville, Mich., standout is arguably the No. 1 player in the 2025 class, an incredibly dynamic and game-changing quarterback who immediately becomes QB1 in Ann Arbor.
Michigan went all-in on Underwood – literally. Smith backed off his pledge once the Underwood rumors started, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison delivered a huge chunk of NIL money, Michigan alum Dave Portnoy put together a marketing plan and Underwood, who was lukewarm about the Wolverines for a long stretch of his recruitment, flipped to Michigan.
He’s such a game-changer for the Wolverines’ offense, which suffered through some woeful times this season, that it would be really shocking if he didn’t start from Day 1.
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2. Jahkeem Stewart will sign with USC.
Over the last week or so, the rumor has been that USC had taken the lead in Stewart’s recruitment and that was huge news as Oregon, LSU and Ohio State were the other main contenders and it was really difficult to get a clear read on his recruitment.
The word I’d gotten was that the Trojans felt guardedly confident about where they stood with the New Orleans (La.) Edna Karr five-star defensive lineman but Stewart was supposed to visit Ohio State this weekend but that visit never happened.
It could be because the NIL money wasn’t there but Stewart does have a great relationship with position coach Larry Johnson.
Oregon can never be counted out down the stretch and if Stewart takes a very late visit to LSU before Wednesday’s National Signing Day then maybe all bets are off but USC is definitely the frontrunner now heading into the stretch run.
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3. David Sanders Jr. will flip to Ohio State.
Sanders made a surprise visit to Ohio State last weekend. He met with coach Ryan Day before leaving town, he was sold on the NFL development among offensive linemen including Josh Simmons and Donovan Jackson along with Paris Johnson, who was the sixth overall pick in the 2023 draft. There’s been some talk that it’s been emphasized that Tennessee hasn’t had as much success in that sense.
There has been some speculation that the Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day standout could return to Columbus this weekend and if that happens to be the case for The Game against Michigan then this feels like it would be a done deal.
Tennessee isn’t going to give up easily as the Volunteers have had his commitment since August and they have NIL resources as well, but this is now going to be a battle until the end. What looked like Tennessee’s marquee commit is now in danger as things could get really interesting here.
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