The captains of the 2024 Michigan football team will not come from the NFL’s expected top picks
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A quick look at the NFL’s 2025 mock draft is enough to see that the Michigan football team’s junior class is well-staffed.
According to a recent ESPN projection for next spring’s draft, defensive back Will Johnson will be selected at No. 3 (Denver Broncos), defensive tackle Mason Graham at No. 7 (Minnesota Vikings) and tight end Colston Loveland at No. 14 (Indianapolis Colts).
A separate publication also predicted that defensive tackle Kenneth Grant would go 20th (Atlanta Falcons), even though neither of them had played a single college snap in their senior years.
Although these players are almost without question the four most talented on the team, senior running back Donovan Edwards told the Free Press at a Born In Detroit autograph signing in downtown Detroit on Tuesday that there is no internal expectation to officially name them as the team’s leaders.
It’s all part of the tradition.
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“I’ll start with the seniors, because only seniors can be captains,” Edwards said when asked about this year’s leaders. “I’ll start with Max Bredeson, he’s improved a lot. Also Makari Paige and Josiah Stewart, those four guys, so those three guys and (myself) come to mind.”
“But you know, it’s a crime, it’s really a shame that (juniors) can’t be elected captains. Like Colston Loveland, my goodness, he’s really a vocal presence. Kenneth Grant, Mason Graham, Will Johnson, I mean, I see Zeke Berry busting his butt. (Alex) Orji, (Jayden) Denegal, Davis Warren — Davis Warren is one I’ve seen as an offensive leader who’s a lot more vocal.”
The Wolverines are coming off a 2024 national championship campaign built on the back of a strong graduating class. Of the 18 players invited to the NFL Combine from UM’s 15-0 squad – a program record – only two (JJ McCarthy and Junior Colson) were juniors, while the other 16 players were either seniors or graduate students.
Last season, the captains were Blake Corum, Zak Zinter, Trevor Keegan, Kris Jenkins, Mike Sainristil and Michael Barrett; six players with a combined 29 years of experience. Edwards would have been the third junior to go in the draft, but after he and his team got feedback, he concluded that a senior year in college was best.
Although it’s still the offseason, there are only 52 days until the start of the 2024 season, and Edwards said he already feels like he’s starting in a different role.
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“I have a lot more say and influence,” Edwards explained. “I realize that I’ve done certain things in big games. When guys look up at me, I feel it and see guys gravitate toward me and ask, ‘What is he doing?'”
“My obligation as a leader is to let others speak up. I’ve realized that when one person speaks out, you get tired of it. But when ten people speak out, the others can say, ‘Okay, that’s the kind of team I’m on.'”
If he hadn’t been injured in the spring, senior safety Rod Moore would also be a perfect candidate for the captain’s armband.
Not only is he a talented leader on defense – his game-winning interception against Ohio State is proof – but new defensive coordinator Wink Martindale compared Moore to one of his favorite defensive backs he has ever coached, Eric Weddle.
It’s not out of the question that he could get the role anyway. While he is expected to begin the season as a player-coach while he continues his rehabilitation process, defensive backs coach Lamar Morgan seemed to leave the door open for a return this year when he said on an episode of Inside The Trenches that Moore “may not be able to play the first half of the season.”
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The public will learn for the first time who the rest of Michigan’s players and staff consider the faces of the future team when it is announced later this month who will be sent to Indianapolis for Big Ten Media Days (July 23-25).
However, it should be remembered that participation in the event is no guarantee of success during the season: two years ago, up-and-coming quarterback Cade McNamara was named captain for 2022, but his backup McCarthy got the job in fall camp, forcing McNamara to transfer.
“You can trust me when I say I push the guys,” Edwards said. “When we do our pull-ups and we get three, I say, ‘No, bro, give me five, give me the full five reps,’ and I feel like the guys appreciate that.”
“They see how hard I’ve worked. … Hopefully they can see that if they work just as hard or even harder, they can reach the same level or even higher.”
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