Michigan football should look for two players during the spring transfer window, according to the college football transfer portal.
It feels like only yesterday that the 2023 college football season concluded with the Michigan football team raising the national championship trophy at NRG Stadium in Houston. It was over three months ago, but preparations for the 2024 season are well started. Teams are having spring games, and we’ve made it through the most difficult portion of the winter. The Wolverines play their spring game on Saturday, and the team will look significantly different.
Last year’s Michigan football team was stacked with talent, and they could shatter the record for the most players drafted by a single school in a single season. It was a veteran-led team, and it helped the Wolverines win the national championship. However, they are now losing almost all of their production from that team, and they must rebuild.
Not only did Michigan lose the majority of its national championship team’s players, but the coaching staff has also changed dramatically. Jim Harbaugh won a national championship with his alma college, but has never won a Super Bowl as an NFL head coach. That is still his objective, as he is currently the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.
It wasn’t only Jim Harbaugh who left Michigan. He brought a number of coaches with him to the NFL, and the Wolverines’ coaching staff has changed dramatically. From players to coaches, this is a very different Michigan football squad. Sherrone Moore is the Wolverines’ new head coach. He did act as head coach for four games last season due to two distinct suspensions that Harbaugh received. Now that the job is legally his, he is effectively starting from scratch.
Michigan football players will have a lot of starting roles to compete for this season because the majority of last year’s starters left. There are players from last year’s team vying for those positions, but the Wolverines should also look at some players on the transfer portal. Keep an eye on these two.
Michigan Football Transfer Portal Targets Jason Zandamela, OL, USC. This is a transfer portal player who Michigan football should definitely contact. Jason Zandamela was in the 2024 recruiting class and enrolled at USC in January, but things rapidly fell through, and he is currently in the portal. He was a top-50 prospect and is now the highest-ranked accessible player on the platform.
For the past three years, Michigan football’s identity has been defined by its offensive line. They earned two Joe Moore trophies for college football’s finest offensive line, with the exception of last year, when Washington won. You witnessed the national championship game, and it was very obvious which team had the best offensive line.
The Wolverines are losing their offensive line core to the NFL, and they must now rebuild an outstanding line. Jason Zandamela would be a huge addition. Jaden Rashada, quarterback, Arizona State Michigan may have passed on an opportunity to get a top quarterback through the transfer portal, but you never know what happens in the spring window. Jaden Rashada is now the highest-ranked available quarterback in the portal, and Michigan should consider him. The Wolverines are losing their standout quarterback, JJ McCarthy, to the NFL, and it may not be a terrible idea to add a transfer to their quarterback competition.
It was odd to see the Wolverines not pursue a quarterback in the portal so early in the summer, but perhaps the coach is confident in last year’s backups. It doesn’t have to be Rashada, but Michigan should consider a transfer quarterback.