When selecting the greatest, performance and awards will be given a lot of weight; however, other aspects, like what the player accomplished for the UM football culture, will also be taken into account.
Hutchinson, a 2021 Heisman finalist, has been Michigan’s best player for the last ten years and is without a doubt the best player to wear the Michigan uniform under head coach Jim Harbaugh. With 14 sacks in 2021, Hutchinson broke the school record for a single season. The Detroit Lions selected him second overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Importantly, Hutchinson solidified his legacy by guiding the Wolverines to their first-ever College Football Playoff participation and their first Big Ten championship since 2003.
Jabrill Peppers was once thought to be the best player in the 2013 class. According to 247Sports, the do-all was ranked third when he arrived on campus, which was a huge win for the Wolverines. Peppers, who was signed by previous head coach Brady Hoke, heralded in a new era of Michigan football.
Peppers, a 2016 Thorpe Award winner and Heisman finalist, was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the draft and is a wide receiver for the New York Jets. Peppers’s arrival in Michigan effectively cleared the way for blue chips to once again come toward Ann Arbor.
Rashan Gary, the top-ranked player in the 2016 recruiting class, was Harbaugh’s first star player. The Wolverines depended on Gary to help shoulder the weight of one of the best defenses in the country, and Gary quickly established himself as a force. As one of the top young defensive players in the NFL, “Bane,” as he is called with the Green Bay Packers, looks to be headed for a prosperous future filled with Sundays.
Michigan’s landing of Gary changed the game; it was more than just a victory. Many more elite recruits planned visits and considered UM as one of their top selections as a result of Gary (and Peppers). Michigan should have given Gary (and Peppers) some thought even though it didn’t always get the best players.
With his 2016 Mackey Award triumph, Jake Butt—possibly the greatest tight end in college history and the greatest to have played at Michigan—set the standard for Wolverines TEs to come. Had it not been for a string of knee injuries, the first of which occurred during the 2017 Orange Bowl, Butt most likely would have enjoyed a prosperous career in the NFL.
In retrospect, he had the option to skip the bowl game and concentrate on the draft instead. Was it something he had done? If he hadn’t suffered from knee issues, perhaps he would still be catching balls on Sunday. Butt’s dedication to his program is unquestionable. Stars now withdraw from bowl games for a variety of reasons. Butt has stated multiple times that if given the chance, he wouldn’t have made any changes and would have definitely participated in the Orange Bowl. For Butt, who left in 2017 and has since become a program favorite, the last collegiate game meant.
Over the previous 10 years, Michigan has produced a number of strong running backs, but none have been as reliable and potent as Hassan Haskins, who was the engine of the team that won the Big 10 title the previous season and scored twenty touchdowns on the ground.
Grant Newsome, a 4-star offensive lineman who was recruited by Brady Hoke, was headed for an amazing career in Ann Arbor when he suffered a terrible injury that almost cost him his leg. After making a play against Wisconsin in 2016, Newsome sliced his artery severely, necessitating his medical retirement in 2018. There was no sense in putting Newsome’s leg at risk by playing, as the injury was simply too much to overcome.
He was well regarded by the media and a fan favorite. Newsome had a manner of connecting with people that made the media joke about his perhaps running for politics in the future. He was always kind and gregarious. He has always been grateful for the chances that came with playing football at UM.
Now working for Harbaugh at Michigan, the two-time letterman and academic All-American is the tight ends coach. He worked as a graduate assistant from 2020 to 21 before that.
That’s saying a lot for the current Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, Jourdan Lewis, who may be the greatest defensive back at Michigan ever not named Charles Woodson. Who can forget the amazing interception Lewis made against Wisconsin in 2016? No one. It was also unquestionably Michigan’s top defensive play during the previous ten years and possibly the greatest interception in Wolverines history.
McNamara, who was recruited by Harbaugh but may not be recognized by supporters and onlookers as the “Harbaugh QB” (see below), ranks on this list due to his 2021 season-ending victory over Ohio State, 11-2 record, and College Football Playoff appearance. McNamara was one of the nation’s most reliable quarterbacks.
Although Michigan fans are always pushing for the star rookie to take the starting job (see below), McNamara has never allowed that to interfere with his concentration or cloud his judgment. In fact, he has been the exact quarterback Michigan needed to get past obstacles like Ohio State, the Big Ten title, and other setbacks.
Iowa graduate transfer Jake Rudock was Harbaugh’s first-choice starting quarterback. A Hoke commit, Wilton Speight succeeded Rudock, who played a crucial role in establishing the foundation for a generation of quarterbacks. The top ranked quarterback in the 2016 class, Shea Patterson, played a respectable career at Michigan.
Though Harbaugh recruited Joe Milton and John O’Korn, among others, Michigan never had a real “Harbaugh QB” until five-star JJ McCarthy joined the team in Ann Arbor. McCarthy, a sophomore, is expected to be the next big thing in Michigan football as a quarterback, and he must live up to the immense burden of being “Harbaugh’s true guy.” McCarthy, the top-ranked PSQB in the 2021 class, has shown promise but still needs more experience to lead the team.
Nevertheless, based only on recruiting optics, he remains one of UM’s most significant players of the last ten years; he is another guy, with Gary and Peppers, who has communicated to the nation that the greatest athletes in the nation still want to play in Ann Arbor.
The three Glasgow brothers—Ryan, Jordan, and Graham—exemplified the strong work ethic that motivates Michigan football. As a fifth-year senior in 2015, Harbaugh’s first season, Graham was a little older and less of an impact player during the Harbaugh era, but he did set an example for his two younger brothers to follow.
Jordan progressed from special teams to becoming a vital member of the squad as a senior, while Ryan was a standout defensive end. There might never be another family that has the same impact on Michigan football as the Glasgow lads did. It would be difficult to think of a brotherly pair that has had such an influence at any program, not just Michigan.
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