WR Donaven McCulley tries to live up to hype, help Michigan football offense to improve
Trivia time: Which active Michigan football player has the longest touchdown pass at Michigan Stadium?
Quarterback Davis Warren's record is 31 yards. Fresno State-turned-Michigan QB Mikey Keene's is 29, when he played the Wolverines in last year's opener.
Bryce Underwood, a freshman, has, of course, never thrown a touchdown at the Big House in a collegiate game. Jake Garcia, a transfer from East Carolina, has never played in Ann Arbor. Jadyn Davis has taken one snap and it resulted in a touchdown – but that came on a 20-yard handoff to Tavierre Dunlap in U-M's 50-6 rout over Northwestern in 2024.
The answer, on its face, may seem surprising: It's wide receiver Donaven McCulley, the transfer from Indiana. He didn't start out his career as a pass-catcher, but as a dual-threat quarterback for the Hoosiers. Of course, by the time he did throw his 44-yard touchdown, in 2023, he had converted to wide receiver, beating U-M on a double-pass trick play.
That was the only time the Hoosiers found the endzone in a 52-7 loss. Still, that touchdown pass was longer than any U-M quarterback threw last season, touchdown or not.
There were a host of problems on offense in 2024. A three-man quarterback carousel. A wide receiver room that didn't have a 250-yard receiver. An offensive line that tried to mesh five new pieces that never quite fit until the final three games of the season.
While one player can't fix all those worries, the hope is the 6-foot-5, 205-pound McCulley will give whoever U-M's new quarterback is a new, big-bodied target on the outside, winning in ways the smaller wideouts of 2024 could not.
“Big, tall, strong, fast, explosive, big-play ability,” coach Sherrone Moore said at Big Ten football media days in Las Vegas. “He gives you what we kind of got with Nico (Collins)."
Michigan has treated him as someone it expects greatness from, too. When the official roster came out in late July as the team reported for fall camp, McCulley was issued the No. 1 jersey. It's something that was teased on social media over the spring and summer, but even position coach Ron Bellamy said he didn't know if it was going to be official.
The No. 1 jersey has been issued to U-M's top pass-catcher for more than 45 years, dating back to Anthony Carter, a three-time All-American, in 1979-82. The number has since gone to a number of U-M's best receivers, such as David Terrell, Braylon Edwards, Roman Wilson and Devin Funchess among others.
"Now, you’ve got to put in the work to see what he’s going to do, but in the spring he flashed more often than not, being a big-play receiver," Moore said. "(Also) in the locker room, he’s been great. He’s asserting himself as a leader.
"He’s an older guy, and he’s really taking the reins of that receiver room to be a threat on our offense."
Earlier this summer, Underwood cited McCulley as the first person who stood out to him. The fanbase was able to see a glimpse of it in the spring game, when Davis threw a jump ball to him in double coverage on a free play. McCulley outworked both defenders and came down for a 21-yard gain.
McCulley has been a key offensive threat in years past. In 2023, McCulley led Indiana in receptions (48), receiving yards (644) and touchdowns (six) while averaging 13.4 yards per catch. He blossomed at the end, hauling in 28 passes for 420 yards and five touchdowns over the final five weeks.
It's not that U-M will be solely reliant on him − new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey is a play-caller with experience running a balanced game − but for the program to take a step forward in the passing game, someone will have to replace tight end Colston Loveland's production.
“I think his leadership — his presence alone — is going to help our room grow,” Bellamy said over the summer.
The expectations aren't only internal. Earlier this summer, CBS Sports ranked McCulley as U-M's most important transfer of the year. Telling, considering the Wolverines also landed Alabama running back Justice Haynes.
But that truly speaks to the production that's needed at the wideout position. The 2024 campaign was perhaps the worst for that position group in modern U-M history, or at least since the turn of the century. At media days, Max Bredeson said there was no offensive unit in America that wanted to rewrite its script as much as the Wolverines.
Consider that doubly true for the wideouts.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.