Former Michigan walk-on offensive lineman Noah Stewart has entered the transfer portal.
Stewart, a 6-foot-7, 292 pound tackle from Muskegon, MI spent four years on the Wolverines and appeared in five games over his career. Stewart was scout team offensive player of the week in 2022 prior to the matchup with Purdue in the Big Ten Championship game and was a two-time academic All-Big Ten.
Though he may have been a behind-the-scenes contributor, Stewart was on the team for one of the greatest runs in Michigan football history. He is undefeated against Ohio State (3-0), boasts three Big Ten titles, and has the obvious flex of winning a Rose Bowl and a national title. That’s five rings for Stewart — not bad at all.
Stewart departing for the portal likely does not change the outlook for next season. Michigan is losing every starting from the national championship squad (Henderson, Keegan, Nugent, Zinter, Barnhart, Jones) and will probably walk out a starting five of Hinton, El-Hadi, Crippen, Prieve, and Gentry. Jeffrey Persi is probably the first guy off the bench at either guard or tackle and Raheem Anderson can serve as backup center. Either way, the Wolverines are reloading one of the deepest position groups in the country.
This is the seventh portal entry of the offseason for Michigan. Stewart joins Sam Staruch, CJ Stokes, Darrius Clemons, Amorion Walker, Cam Calhoun, and Matthew Hibner as departures. Should Jim Harbaugh accept an NFL job, the expectation is that more players would follow in the portal. In contrast, Michigan has brought in just two players to fill in the ranks. Jaishawn Barnham (LB) and Josh Priebe (IOL) look to be starters if not heavy contributors.
The new era of college football is a new world to navigate. Michigan had success in the portal last year, and may need to do the same this season to continue to contend for national titles in the future.
Story originally appeared on Wolverines Wire
2024-01-19 00:58:00
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