Michigan is on a historic streak of producing unanimous All-Americans, with four straight years of elite talent earning the honor. Who will be the next undeniable star to join the prestigious list? We break down the top candidates for 2025:
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Who Will Be Michigan’s Next Unanimous All-American?
Michigan is on a heater (“And you never walk away from a table when you’re on a heater. ”). Recruiting is producing more fireworks and scaring fewer dogs than the recent holiday weekend and is showing no signs of slowing down. The Wolverines are also on another heater. A heater has spanned four years, and although it has been quietly acknowledged, it deserves more applause for being the first instance for a football program that has been playing ball since 1879.
For the first time in program history, Michigan has had four consecutive unanimous All-American selections with four different players. The players were:
2021: Aidan Hutchinson
2022: Blake Corum
2023: Zak Zinter
2024: Mason Graham
Hutchinson was an easy choice after breaking the program sack record, finishing second in the Heisman race, and leading the Wolverines over Ohio State for the first time in a decade. Corum was also a no-brainer after putting together one of the best single seasons for a running back in Michigan history. Without a Week 11 knee injury, Corum finishes the season by challenging for Tim Biakabutuka’s single-season rushing record and the Heisman Trophy.
The next two years, Michigan was recognized in the trenches. Similar to Corum, Zinter went down late in the season (Week 12) with an injury, but his greatness had already been etched into stone as one of the best linemen in the country. Most recently, Graham earned the honors last season after personifying dominance, hurling an all-time insult at Jack Sawyer (if you know you know), and inciting floods in Columbus from tears.
Michigan was close to matching this feat once before in the late 80s/early 90s, except only three players were chosen due to one’s historic greatness.
Defensive lineman Mark Messner, whose career numbers resemble a video game: 248 tackles, 36 sacks, and 70 tackles-for-loss. He earned the honor in 1988. The following year, defensive back Tripp Welborne was the choice and, in 1990, Welborne joined Anthony Carter as the only two Michigan players to ever be chosen as a unanimous All-American multiple times. The final year of the run saw the electric Desmond Howard be recognized with a unanimous selection and a Heisman Trophy.
Throughout Michigan history, there has been no other run close. The 1940s teams produced four unanimous selections, but those were spaced out between 1940, 1942, 1943 and 1947. Most decades for the Wolverines were considered great successes if three were honored in total, and it’s not like receiving the honor has gotten any easier.
The 30 years between Howard’s Heisman-winning season and Hutch’s Heisman runner-up saw only six Wolverines (Charles Woodson, 1997; Steve Hutchinson, 2000; Braylon Edwards, 2004; LaMarr Woodley, 2006; Jake Long, 2007; Jabrill Peppers, 2016) recognized to this degree. An average of one winner every five years.
“But, Andrew, why does being unanimous matter? Michigan has certainly had plenty of consensus All-Americans?”
Yes, concerned and informed, reader. Being a consensus All-American is a tremendous honor, and in fact, 89 of Michigan’s 145 first-team All-Americans have been consensus picks. Some of the greatest players in Michigan history have been consensus All-Americans: Tom Curtis (1969), Rob Lytle (1976), Jarrett Irons (1996) and Devin Bush (2018), just to name a few.
Easy arguments could be made that each of those players should have been unanimous, but there is a certain indisputable feeling that comes with being a unanimous selection. An aura that is ubiquitous across tribal lines; a shared understanding, if not appreciation, of excellence.
Only 28 players in Michigan history have received All-American recognition unanimously. Only 28 have been so elite and so dominant that even their biggest detractors have to acknowledge their greatness. Only 28 have been undeniable.
Which now begs the question, who will be number 29? Who will be Michigan’s next undeniable player? Let’s look at the favorites who could continue this historic streak in 2025.
Pick a player on defense
The defense is loaded with talent at every level, with several players who could ascend to the highest level.
Across the defensive line, Rayshaun Benny and Derrick Moore are the most logical options, but don’t count out T.J. Guy. He was quietly second on the team in sacks last year (5.5) and was the most productive sack artist of any non-starter in the Big Ten. With a starting role and more opportunities, the fifth-year senior could challenge to lead the conference.
In the middle of the defense, Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barham form the best linebacker duo in the Big Ten, and possibly the country. Hausmann lived up to the green dot responsibility he shouldered last season by leading the team in tackles (89) and chipping in seven tackles for loss, a pair of sacks and an interception. Barham was hot on his heels with 66 tackles, four tackles for loss and one sack. With a more hybrid edge role in 2025, Barham could see the single biggest jump in sack production of any Wolverine.
The secondary is littered with talent, but the conversation starts with safety Rod Moore. Injury-permitting, Moore is at worst a top-five safety in the country. There is no player with a higher IQ, and if his body can hold up, he has to be considered a frontrunner.
Corners Zeke Berry and Jyaire Hill round out the most likely contenders in the back seven. Hill is one of the hottest names and corner prospects in the country, and Berry has quietly developed into the best-kept secret in the Big Ten. After a tumultuous start to 2024, Berry was asked to change positions and replace all-star corner Will Johnson. Once Berry moved outside, he arguably became Michigan’s best corner and was integral in slowing down Jeremiah Smith in Columbus. Although most wrote off Berry by the middle of last season, he didn’t write back.
If the Michigan defense had odds for unanimous All-American status, it would look something like this:
- Rod Moore
- Rayshaun Benny
- Ernest Hausman
- Derrick Moore
- Jyaire Hill
- Jaishawn Barham
- Zeke Berry
- T.J. Guy
Running back Jordan Marshall
There is a lot of excitement around transfer running back Justice Haynes, but let’s not get it twisted — Jordan Marshall is RB1. In one career start, Marshall tied Haynes for career 100-yard rushing games and looked like the next evolution of Mike Hart. I highly recommend rewatching Marshall’s ReliaQuest Bowl performance before the new season starts.
Marshall is a shifty, powerful runner who will be the focal point of Michigan’s offense this year as the team (likely) works to get true freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood acclimated. Haynes will receive his fair share of touches as well, but this feels like a 60/40 situation similar to Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum in 2021.
With this type of workload and given how many elite running backs moved on to the NFL last season, Marshall has to be considered. And with so many unknowns on offense, Marshall is the only serious contender to continue the streak on this side of the ball.
Kicker Dominic Zvada
Zvada was more than a revelation last season. It was like the first time watching The Dark Knight. Sure, previous versions had been great (Jake Moody), but this player was redefining the excellence for the position.
Last season, Zvada connected on 21-of-22 field goals (95.5 percent), with his only miss coming from a missed block in front of him. His accuracy ranked him third nationally, first in the Big Ten, and he was the only kicker in the country to make more than 20 field goals and connected on more than 92 percent of his attempts.
Zvada was recognized as a first-team All-American by three voting bodies last season, and this is the year he is recognized by all of them.