Michigan Wolverines pull former top recruit at his position out of the transfer portal to bolster offense in key room for next season
The Michigan Wolverines added former top running back recruit Taylor Tatum out of the transfer portal from the Oklahoma Sooners.
The Michigan Wolverines have made their first non-specialist addition from the transfer portal on Thursday, pulling in a former contributor from an SEC team.
Former Oklahoma Sooners running back Taylor Tatum has signed with the Wolverines, making him their first offensive addition to the unit from the portal.
What Taylor Tatum brings to Michigan Wolverines
As a freshman, Tatum flashed some potential, rushing for 277 yards and three touchdowns. However, he couldn’t see the field in 2025 despite multiple injuries to the room, and didn’t seem to have any confidence from the coaching staff.
Out of high school, Tatum was the number-one running back recruit in the class of 2024. As a three-sport star, Tatum excelled at football, baseball, and track, and was a coveted prospect in both football and baseball at Longview, Texas.
He visited Michigan before committing to the Sooners ahead of the Signing Day that season.
What Tatum’s arrival means for Michigan Wolverines’ running back room
The Wolverines will be adding Tatum to a room already returning their leading rusher from this season in Jordan Marshall and another No. 1 running back recruit in Savion Hiter. With the departures of Jasper Parker and Bryson Kuzdzal to the transfer portal, the Wolverines needed to restock the depth in their running back room.
It’s unclear how, or even if, this will affect Justice Haynes’ return to the Wolverines for the 2026 season. Michigan is gunning hard to bring him back, but Haynes will be a top running back prospect for the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft, and it would be hard to overcome the allure of that. Marshall, Hiter, and Tatum is already a room full of mouths to feed, so adding Haynes’s return on top of that would create a bit of a logjam, especially in an offense that has primarily only leaned on one running back.
We’ll see how the rotation unfolds and what Haynes ultimately decides on, but Michigan has made an intriguing gamble to add to their offense ahead of next season.
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