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In perhaps the most significant transfer out of the 2022-23 Michigan Football offseason, sophomore WR Andrel Anthony is departing the program:

The sophomore receiver appeared in all fourteen games this season for the Wolverines, recording seven catches for 80 yards and one touchdown. This was a step down from his freshman season statline of twelve catches for 248 yards and three touchdowns, a development that led to discussion in the fanbase. After playing miniscule roles in the key games of the season, he is gone. 

Anthony arrived at Michigan out of rival East Lansing, a 3* prospect just outside the top 500 of the 247 composite. He was a lanky 6'2", known for his leaping and admired for potential star retriever traits. Michigan took Anthony and Cristian Dixon as their receiver crop in the 2021 recruiting class (Xavier Worthy was once in this group) and of these two, it was Anthony that had the authors of this site most excited. Seth did the recruiting profiles that year and was enamored with Anthony, comparing him to Roy Roundtree (but Tall) and naming him the vaunted SLEEPER OF THE YEAR. 

Anthony was an early enrollee in the spring of 2021 and got plenty of spring buzz which preceded Seth's praise. As the 2021 season got going, Anthony was not featured much until midway through the year, when suddenly he made his presence known against his hometown Spartans: 

That was Anthony's first career catch(!), a 93 yarder for a score that made us say "oh, this is a thing". Then he found the end zone again: 

Anthony had six catches for 155 yards and 2 TDs and had Michigan won that game, Anthony would've been the #1 hero. Even the catches that didn't count had Braylon vibes: 

That game made us believe that a star had been born, but liftoff didn't quite follow. Anthony was still buried on the WR chart and he accomplished the rather remarkable feat of having exactly one (1) catch in every single game the rest of the season. There were some tough moments peppered in, including a semi-drop on a deep ball against Ohio State that Anthony alllllmost had, but the potential was still there, as we saw in his TD against Georgia from JJ: 

He got a +3 for the route in UFR. Given that it is MGoBlog policy that Freshman Receivers Suck, many assumed that 2022 would bring a huge jump in Andrel Anthony's level of play, but that's where things take a negative turn of sorts. Not just did Anthony fail to take a step forward, in many ways, he seemingly regressed. His stat line was a decrease in catches, yards, and TDs, and he didn't have a "moment" the way he did against MSU in 2021. Anthony appeared in every game, but got a catch in only six of them and had more than one catch in just one contest. In fact, he had just one catch after the bye week, a 7 yard reception vs. Rutgers. He did record a touchdown against Nebraska, for falling on a loose ball in the end zone that Ronnie Bell fumbled: 

The disappearance of Anthony was rather mysterious and when given an opportunity to make plays, he didn't make them. McCarthy threw him a beautiful ball against Illinois that was a game-changing touchdown if caught, and Anthony could not make the grab. Not that other receivers didn't have drops, but Anthony's usage was not high and when given an opportunity to change the narrative, he failed to seize the moment. To that point, in our charting, Anthony had two drops on "routine" balls, tied for the team lead. But here's the catch (hehe, pun): Cornelius Johnson's two drops were across 22 routine balls. Bell's were across 42. Anthony's were over 8 balls. Likewise he was 0/1 on "tough" balls and 0/1 on "circus". Some opportunities were given, and not enough plays were made to warrant more Andrel Anthony this season. 

Still, your author and many Michigan fans had high hopes for Andrel Anthony going into 2023, if he could figure out whatever the issue was. Now it appears he will be figuring it out at a different school. Anthony will have two years of eligibility + the possibility to redshirt wherever he goes. One could wonder what this says about both the status of the incumbent receivers, as well as those below Anthony on the age chart. Ronnie Bell is out the door, Roman Wilson is expected to return as a senior, but Cornelius Johnson has the opportunity to use his COVID-shirt to return. Does Anthony's departure say anything about Johnson's decision? Moreover, it could indicate that Anthony may be passed on the depth chart by the likes of Darrius Clemons or Amorion Walker, who are Class of 2022 players finishing their freshmen seasons. Clemons in particular is one to watch, as his friendship with Anthony was a large factor in his recruitment. 

Michigan will be looking to get a bit more from their WR room next season, and unfortunately Anthony will not be a part of it. We will always have the memory of his 2021 MSU performance, even if that game outcome is a bit sour to look back on. That said, it's hard to look at Anthony's time in Ann Arbor and not have a slight feeling of "what could've been". Hopefully he will reach those lofty dreams somewhere else and we wish him the best. There is no content after the jump. 

Michigan has once again lost one of its podcasting athletes. Quarterback Alan Bowman announced he's in the portal, with a year of eligibility remaining.

It bites that he can't stick around for the Playoff but teams are making their decisions now, so it's important for guys looking to find a place to play next year to be on the market sooner rather than later. UPDATE: Bowman will be with Michigan through the end of the season, while letting teams know he's available.

Bowman transferred to Michigan in 2021 after making 16 starts at Texas Tech. At the time, he was expected to compete with Cade McNamara and JJ McCarthy for the starting job. A starter for TTU in 2018 under Kliff Kingsbury's Air Raid, Bowman lost most of his 2019 season to injury, earning a medical redshirt, and then lost his starting job in 2020. If you're wondering how a guy who committed to Kliff Kingsbury (in June 2017!) still has eligibility, well:

2018: Fr/Fr
2019: Medshirt/So
2020: COVID/Jr
2021: So/Sr
2022: Jr/5th
2023: Sr/6th

Told ya it was gonna get weird.

As a Michigan media person, Bowman earned a lot of fans, specifically for producing a refreshingly frank podcast with fellow backup (and fellow transfer out) Dan Villari last year.

As a Michigan quarterback, however, he never got higher than third on the depth chart, as McNamara seized the QB1 job last season, with McCarthy his up-and-coming backup. Even with McCarthy starting now and Cade in Iowa, Bowman wasn't likely to see the field, getting passed by 2020 walk-on Davis Warren (who had freshman eligibility this year) last spring. True freshman Alex Orji also assumed a role as wildcat back this season. Michigan doesn't have any more QBs coming in but seems comfortable moving forward with McCarthy and Warren for the foreseeable future, so Bowman wasn't likely to see the field again.