“How much do you trust Bryce Underwood”: CFB insider issues hard-hitting question to Sherrone Moore as starting QB battle intensifies

College football insider J.D. Pickell of On3 is not sure if the Michigan Wolverines will trust Bryce Underwood next season. The Wolverines landed Underwood, who was the best high school quarterback in the nation, in this year's transfer portal. However, he isn't guaranteed to be the starter for the team.

Pickell tried to unpack the different strands surrounding the QB1 question during a call-in show on On3. In response to a caller's question on Michigan's QB1 question, the CFB insider painted the premise of the argument.

Pickell believes that it all depends on how much head coach Sherrone Moore and the Wolverines actually believe in him. So he just blatantly presented the question in his argument:

"If the offensive line isn't awesome at Michigan next year, do you like experience or do you like mobility? It's really the thought we are trying to unpack here... How much do you trust Bryce Underwood?" Pickell said [1:45].

"It's a very different conversation if you are talking to yourself on gameday and saying, 'I hope Bryce Underwood doesn't totally total this car... Or I hope is it, I hope he doesn't scratch that paint too bad.'"

Pickell believes it all comes down to how much of a risk factor Underwood presents if he fails to deliver. That will decide whether the management relies on him on gameday.

Underwood was a five-star recruit in the class of 2025 and could start as a true freshman. Yet, Michigan did land Mikey Keene in the transfer portal from Fresno State to add some experience to the roster.

Keene went 277-for-393 for 2,892 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions last season with the Bulldogs. So Moore certainly has options.

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Sherrone Moore pleased with Michigan's QB room

The Michigan Wolverines had no clear-cut No. 1 quarterback last season and it showed in their lackluster year.

Yet, entering 2025, Michigan has a much better quarterback room with Underwood and Keene. Davis Warren is also back so Moore has admitted that he feels confident in the quarterbacks this season.

"I feel like we're in a really good place with the quarterbacks," Moore said, via SI. "Obviously, I'll really start with Mikey Keene, you know, a transfer from Fresno, who... really great player. And you watch cut-ups of coach [Chip] Lindsey showing us things from different places he's been, and then Mikey Keene shows up on different cut-ups, the dude can really spin it.

"He's thrown for over 8,000 yards in his career, and I think he had the third-highest adjusted completion percentage in college football last year. So he's a guy that has won a lot of football games, played a lot of football in different environments, super smart, excited to have him."

Michigan will use spring and fall practices to determine their starting quarterback. Keene does have the college experience while Underwood likely has the higher ceiling.

Michigan will open their season on August 30 against New Mexico.