Michigan
What Michigan’s stars must do to become first-rounders in 2026 NFL Draft
The 2025 Michigan Wolverines football season is just a few months away, and there is hope for quite a few guys to make a name for themselves and catch the attention of the next level. Here’s what their top 2026 NFL Draft prospects need to do to secure themselves as first-rounders next year.
Edge Derrick Moore
Michigan has produced plenty of defensive linemen in the last decade, specifically on the edge. Moore could be the next one, with an ideal 6-foot-3, 256-pound frame that rivals those selected in Round 1 this year.
But in order to really take that next step, he needs to make more of a difference on the stat sheet. The average number of sacks for guys selected in the first in 2025 was 6.5, and the average number of tackles for loss was about 13. Moore only has nine sacks and 12 tackles for loss in his career thus far.
Additionally, we need to see more of a burst. Moore is a solid pass rusher, but he doesn’t pop off the screen like David Ojabo and Aidan Hutchinson did. It could certainly be in there, but NFL teams are paying more and more attention to 40-yard times in their evaluations. If he surprises and hits a 4.6 or lower, he’ll have a much better shot at being a first-rounder.
Edge T.J. Guy
Similar to Moore, Guy has an NFL-ready frame at 6-foot-4, 250 pounds. And while 5.5 sacks in 2024 was more than expected, he’ll likely need to approach double digits to even be considered in that range. Not impossible by any means.
But we also saw Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart go in the top-15 this spring despite only 1.5 sacks in 2024 and 4.5 total in his career. Again, if he has sneaky athleticism that maybe we don’t know about, anything can happen.
Cornerback Jyaire Hill
The name trending the most on the Michigan roster in mock drafts is Hill. At 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, he is lankier than the average first-round corner over the past five years. Most expect him to run in the low 4.4s to high 4.3s in the 40-yard dash, which gives him the intangibles of a corner taken in this range.
But Hill is rough around the edges. He went through growing pains last year and allowed some big plays at times, but he also improved as the season went on. By the time The Game rolls around, the hope is that he is ready to take on one of college’s top wideouts in Jeremiah Smith and give him fits. That game could go a long way in his NFL evaluation.
Defensive Tackle Rayshaun Benny
If I were to fast forward a year from now, I think Benny will have the best shot at being a top-15 selection. He’s been overshadowed by Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, but now it’s his time to shine.
One of two things must happen — he either has to put on weight and stuff running lanes, or he’s got to show off a great 40-time. Benny is far from small at 296 pounds, but first-round guys at his position are usually heavier than 300 pounds and running in the 4.6-4.7 range. His best bet will be putting on a few pounds and still showing off his natural athleticism.
The average first-round interior defensive lineman stats over the past five drafts are 37.5 tackles, four sacks and nine tackles for loss in their final college season. While Benny has 71 career tackles, the other two metrics are right around what he has for his career.
Linebacker Jaishawn Barham
The priority for Barham is figuring out where he best fits. He’s far from a prototypical middle linebacker at 6-foot-3, 248. He’s a physical specimen who can turn into the top linebacker off the board, but he must he can clean up some of his mistakes from last year.
Where that typically lies for Barham is in coverage. He’s far from polished in covering running backs and is usually a step slow in getting into his lanes in zone. His play recognition in the pass game is usually late, allowing receivers to get open. Additionally, he can be a better tackler — he relies too much on his physicality and less on fundamentals.
That’s why he might be better suited on the edge, but time will tell how much he will play there this season. He’s a really athletic player, so it’s just a matter of finding where he fits in best and what position provides him the highest upside in the NFL.
Four-star safety from Santa Margarita Catholic (Calif.) Pole Moala has named his top seven schools, with the Michigan Wolverines making the cut.
Moala, according to a report from Ethan McDowell of On3’s The Wolverine, visited campus earlier in the week for a few days with his family.
The California prospect is arguably the program’s top target at safety for the class of 2027 as the Wolverines reportedly sit in a strong position ahead of his June 19 official visit.
“It was great!!” Moala said to The Wolverine about the visit to Michigan. “Couldn’t be more grateful for the entire Michigan staff for the hospitality! I can definitely see myself coming back.”
Moala also told The Wolverine that Michigan is a top two school for him as he also visited Ole Miss later in the week.
He is the No. 167 overall prospect, the No. 18 safety and the No. 12 player in the state of California in the class of 2027, according to Rivals.
Moala’s scouting report
Director of Scouting at 247 Sports, Andrew Ivins, views Moala as a potential multi-year Power Four starter with NFL upside.
Ivins full evaluation of Moala on his 247 profile reads:
-Versatile defensive back with the ideal blend of athleticism and physicality.
-Moved from the class of 2028 to the class of 2027 where he’s age appropriate after a stellar 2025 campaign.-Projects best as a free safety that can clean up mistakes, but has the hip fluidity and cover talent to potentially hang at cornerback.
-Strikes in the alley and runs his feet through contact.
-Active eyes frequently has him beating the football to the catch point.
-Commits to angles, but can get caught over-pursing.
-Likely to eventually carry 200 pounds on a frame that’s believed to be hovering right around 5-foot-11.5, 185 pounds.
-Should be viewed as a potential multi-year starter in a Power Four secondary with NFL upside given the ball production and competitive temperament.
The Wolverines have clearly made the safety position a priority during this recruiting cycle, with Darell Mattison and Maxwell Miles already committing under the watch of head coach Kyle Whittingham.
If Michigan can seal the deal with Moala, that would be another step in the right direction in helping bolster the secondary in Whittingham’s first full class as head coach of the Wolverines.
Michigan currently has five players committed in its class of 2027 up to this point.
Mayors and township supervisors across Metro Detroit are alarmed about state housing legislation that they said could result in much denser development that would tax local infrastructure, though advocates argued it would reduce the cost of housing.
The legislation, introduced in February, has pitted local officials against some state lawmakers who contend that Michigan needs to address local regulations that restrict the building of more affordable housing. The bills, now in a Michigan House committee, would allow for smaller lot sizes and smaller setbacks, paving the way for more affordable homes, said State Rep. Kristian Grant.
“What we know is that over the last 20 to 30 years, zoning regulations that may have been well-intended when they started have gone further and further and have really become a redlining tool to keep people out of communities,” said Grant, a Grand Rapids Democrat who is championing the bills.
But local government officials said the bills take a one-size-fits-all approach to zoning across the state and that local infrastructure, including sewer and water systems, can’t support potential increases in housing density. They countered that the bills do not ensure that the new housing will be sold or rented at affordable prices.
Multiple communities, including Bloomfield Township, Clinton Township, Romulus and Sterling Heights, have passed formal resolutions opposing the legislation. Dozens of officials from across Metro Detroit gathered at a February press conference, organized by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, to blast the legislation.
“There’s never been an issue in Lansing in the time that I’ve been working on legislative advocacy that has galvanized our membership and local leaders statewide in favor or against something so much ― in this case, against a bill package,” said Kevin Vettraino, SEMCOG’s director of planning.
The Michigan Municipal League, SEMCOG and the Michigan Townships Association have organized a letter of opposition that more than 2,000 officials across the state and over 100 residents have signed. The issue is about local control, they said.
“We are strongly of the opinion that we are closest to residents and that we should have a say,” Bloomfield Township Treasurer Michael Schostak said. “We have the ultimate say on our issues that impact the local community.”
But Grant argued that zoning is one of the issues that increases the cost of housing. Americans live differently than they did several generations ago, as more families have single parents and some married people don’t have kids, she said, necessitating more housing units.
Grant said her legislative package is not focused on “getting rid of zoning in any kind of way.”
“It focuses really closely on five zoning laws that are very directly correlated to housing,” she said. “It also does not remove local input.”
Not all local officials in Metro Detroit oppose the legislation. Ann Arbor officials support the proposals as addressing the unaffordability of housing by increasing the supply and thus lowering the price.
Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor said the legislation doesn’t eliminate local planning, but rather “ensures that there are minimum levels of housing opportunity everywhere.”
“This package provides a floor,” Taylor said. “It doesn’t provide a ceiling.”
Home builders explain why zoning rules are costly
Zoning rules often make it prohibitive for developers to build smaller starter homes, said Dawn Crandall, executive vice president for government relations at the Home Builders Association of Michigan.
“If they have, say, one-acre minimum lot sizes, … that increases the cost of a home just in the land,” she said.
Crandall said the costs of land and building materials, as well as lending issues, have made home development more expensive. Zoning law changes are “one piece of the puzzle” to increase the state’s housing stock, she said.
“This is just one way that we can look at maybe putting some guardrails and some stability across the state for builders who sometimes build in numerous communities,” Crandall said.
But SEMCOG’s Vettraino said the bills don’t ensure that newly constructed units are affordable. He pointed to a development under construction in Harper Woods that is targeting families earning 60-120% of the area median income. He said that this ensures that the units are “affordable currently and into the future.”
“There is no confidence that the end result of that bill package results in affordable housing, because it gives all the decision-making to the developers,” said Amy O’Leary, SEMCOG’s executive director.
Grant countered by noting that the current low supply of new housing is driving up costs. and. She pointed to Austin, Texas, where a Pew Charitable Trusts article said policy reforms starting in 2015 “aimed at encouraging the development of new housing, especially rentals,” resulted in rents decreasing as more homes were built.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said he hasn’t been able to pinpoint how the package helps reduce the cost of home construction.
The city is already conducting quick reviews of site plans — Dearborn’s site plan guide says reviews take about 20 days — and working on pre-approved housing designs for single-family homes and duplexes, he said. The moves are intended to speed up construction by vetting certain home designs in advance to ensure they comply with local zoning and building codes.
“We are doing all the right things, but the cost of construction is just high,” Hammoud said.
Romulus Mayor Robert McCraight said he’d rather see lawmakers give developers an incentive to build higher-density housing by subsidizing infrastructure costs, such as utilities and roads, that have to be paid before home construction can start. That can cost $100,000 per house, he said.
If legislators can find a way to provide that kind of incentive, McCraight said, “Now you’re talking.”
What the zoning bills say
House Bills 5529 and 5530, which are sponsored by Grant and state Rep. Jennifer Wortz, R-Quincy, respectively, would prohibit communities from establishing a minimum parcel size of more than 1,500 square feet for detached single-family residences served by public water and sewer, according to a SEMCOG summary of the bills.
Grant said land is expensive.
“If we require people to buy large amounts of it for one single-family home, not only does that take away from someone else who could have built on that land, but it prices people out,” she said.
House Bill 5583, sponsored by state Rep. Matt Longjohn, D-Portage, would ensure that the zoning in communities in or adjacent to a Metropolitan Statistical Area, such as Metro Detroit, doesn’t require setbacks larger than 15 feet at the front of a building or five feet at the side or rear. A setback is the space between where a property line starts and where a housing unit is built.
The setback changes would allow more land to be used for housing, Grant said.
Grant’s House Bill 5582 would restrict zoning ordinances from requiring more than one parking space per dwelling unit in a multifamily development. And House Bill 5584, sponsored by Rep. Joey Andrews, D-St. Joseph, would make duplexes “a permitted use” in any zoning district that allows single-family residences.
Developers would be able to submit a proposal for a duplex, but local governments could still set requirements for duplexes, including regarding the design of the building or its parking, Grant said.
“What the bill is essentially saying is that you cannot, off the bat, just make duplexes illegal to build in your community,” she said.
How the proposed legislation would increase housing density
SEMCOG’s Vettraino said the bills don’t specify how the setback sizes and minimum parcel sizes were determined. The legislation would allow 1,500-square-foot lots with homes that are 500 square feet in size and “minimal setbacks,” he said.
“What does this really look like?” Vettraino said. “When you do the math for a single acre, this would result in as many as 29 single-family units on a single acre.”
The legislation doesn’t talk about setting aside land for green space, utilities or infrastructure, but if 30% of the land were reserved for those elements, there would be 20 single-family units per acre, he said.
“This still is far more dense than anything that we currently have in the region,” Vettraino said, adding that Hamtramck is the densest city in Michigan at 18 housing units per acre, followed by Detroit at 12, Ypsilanti at nine and Center Line at eight.
The smallest lot sizes in Sterling Heights are 7,200 square feet, which are typically 60 feet by 120 feet, said City Planner Jake Parcell, which equates to just under six homes per acre.
Sterling Heights City Manager Mark Vanderpool said a few thousand housing units need to be built in the city in the coming years.
“Now, is it smarter to do it in the way we’ve been doing it, or is it better to have legislation that just mandates density anywhere in the community residential areas?” Vanderpool said.
The city manager pointed to the Lakeside City Center project, which will include “a couple thousand” housing units. The project will turn the Lakeside Mall property on M-59 into a mixed-use center, with restaurants, hotels, housing, park space and more.
Officials debate setback concerns
In Oakland County, which is home to hundreds of lakes, officials worried that reduced setbacks — meaning the space between where a property line starts and where a housing unit is built — could put developments too close to wetlands.
Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett said his community has had “major flooding” in recent years — something he said the proposed bills don’t take into consideration.
The Oakland County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution opposing the bills out of committee in March. Gwen Markham, a Democratic county commissioner from Novi, said the setback for wetlands in the county is currently 50 feet. One legislative proposal would allow up to a 25-foot setback from wetlands, inland lakes or streams, and high-water marks for the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair, according to the SEMCOG summary.
“Wetland setbacks protect buildings, whether it’s homes or businesses or public buildings,” Markham said.
“The local officials don’t feel as though you can just tell us across the board, ‘You need to be able to do this.’”
Ann Arbor City Councilwoman Lisa Disch disagreed, arguing that Oakland County could create natural feature protections in its zoning code that would address bodies of water and coexist with the proposed rules.
Macomb officials worry that communities could be ‘upended’
Macomb Township Supervisor Frank Viviano said that when he and his wife were deciding where they wanted to raise their family, they chose an area where they thought they could “get value” and liked the surrounding community.
“Now, if these bills were to go through, the community that I invested to, and the community that literally hundreds of thousands of southeast Michigan residents invested into, could be upended, meaning that we could have a duplex next to us, five feet from our property line,” Viviano said.
Clinton Township Supervisor Paul Gieleghem said he and other township officials believe the proposed changes would reduce property values.
“Reducing the value of someone’s home is literally pulling money from them,” Gieleghem said, adding that a family’s single largest investment.
“We are for development and affordable housing options, but where the infrastructure exists to be able to support it,” Gieleghem said.
Kelly Karll, the manager of SEMCOG’s environment and infrastructure group, said municipal engineers are responsible for making sure roads, water, sewer and stormwater lines in an area can safely support what’s being built.
“So when the state overrides local control with one-size-fits-all-type mandates like this, it breaks that connection between development decisions and the capacity checks that engineers are required to make,” she said.
Karll said the bills would allow “major increases” in density in places where infrastructure was sized for a significantly lower level of use.
But Rep. Aragona said he and the other lawmakers are not trying to “overwhelm any type of system.” If they have to amend the legislation to ensure that infrastructure isn’t overwhelmed, they will, he said.
“We don’t want anybody’s basement flooding or any streets getting ruined because … there’s not enough impervious surface or what have you,” Aragona said.
Some opponents are backing another proposal, called the MI Home Program, which was introduced as House Bill 5660 by State Reps. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester, and Samantha Steckloff, D-Farmington Hills.
Under the MI Home Program, the state would spend $160 million annually for five years to accelerate housing construction and rehabilitation and promote updates to local zoning regulations, a Michigan Municipal League document said. The homes built or rehabbed using the state money would be required to be sold to people earning within 120% of the area median income, SEMCOG’s O’Leary said.
“If they want to actually fix affordability, they need to put some funding behind it,” said Orion Township’s Barnett, who supports this bill.
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East Lansing ― Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz said Friday that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, an MSU alumna, will be speaking at the university’s spring 2026 graduation ceremony.
Whitmer will be speaking at MSU’s spring undergraduate convocation, which is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Friday, May 1, at the Breslin Center.
Whitmer is a two-time MSU graduate, earning both her bachelor’s and law degrees from MSU.
Whitmer has been the governor since 2019.
Christopher Fernandez was announced as the speaker for the university’s master’s and educational specialist ceremony, scheduled for 9 a.m. on May 1 at Breslin Center.
Fernandez is a member of MSU’s School of Human Resources & Labor Relations Advisory Board, which he served as president of from 2014-16. He also runs a company called Agentic Connect, which is focused on individuals in the labor market realizing a direct benefit from a human-centered artificial intelligence approach.
Ann Austin, university distinguished professor for the Department of Educational Administration in the College of Education, will be speaking at the doctoral ceremony for the university, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. May 1 at the Breslin Center.
Austin has served on the faculty in higher, adult and lifelong education in the College of Education since 1991, including serving as interim vice provost and associate vice president for faculty and academic staff affairs from 2022-23 and assistant provost for faculty and academic staff development from 2016-21.
kgraham@lsj.com
@KarlyGrahamJrn
The Detroit News contributed.
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