Fox Sports college football writer makes prediction about Michigan QB Bryce Underwood

In college football, especially at the FBS level, it's rare for a true freshman to make an instant impact and help a team reach the top of the sport. Yet, that's exactly what wide receiver Jeremiah Smith did with the Ohio State Buckeyes last season while helping lead his team to a national championship behind 76 receptions for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns.

In June, as part of a college football roundtable from Fox Sports, the question was posed as to whether there was a freshman in the 2025 season who could make a similar level impact as Smith did for the Buckeyes last year. College football writer Michael Cohen said Michigan true freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood is greatly positioned to make the most impact out of any other true freshman in the country, but that it many not mean the Wolverines are competing for a national title.

"It’s an interesting question because the freshman best positioned to make a significant impact in 2025 is probably Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 overall recruit in the country and presumed front-runner to win the starting job this fall," Cohen wrote. "But the likelihood of a true freshman quarterback lifting the Wolverines from tied for seventh in the Big Ten standings, which is where they finished last fall under first-year head coach Sherrone Moore, all the way to a legitimate national title contender, seems a touch farfetched. Underwood’s sophomore and junior seasons will be the years when Michigan can realistically be expected to challenge the sport’s best teams."

Whether Underwood can help lead the Wolverines to a national title contender remains to be seen, but it's clear his potential impact is being recognized on a large scale across college football.