The Michigan football program has been one of the top schools to send talent to the NFL going back many years. Even to this date, the Wolverines are one of the top college teams the past few seasons and franchises are clawing their way to get that talent to their team. Michigan just had 13 players selected in the 2024 NFL Draft. Majority of the Wolverines throughout the years have had respected NFL careers, but there are those that haven’t.
We recently compiled five Michigan football steals since the 2015 NFL Draft, but now we’re going to turn to a different direction; misses. Going back to the ’15 draft, here are five Michigan football players that didn’t live up to the hype.
After a 9.5 sack senior season at Michigan, Charlton bolted up draft boards. The Dallas Cowboys picked him with the 28th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft based on his superb athleticism and his high ceiling. However, Charlton never really had his footing in the league. He played with Dallas for three seasons and then bounced around from team to team trying to make his way back onto an active roster. The best season Charlton had was with Miami in 2019 where he had five sacks. He’s currently on the Birmingham Stallions of the UFL.
Devin Funchess was dynamic with the Wolverines playing both tight end and wide receiver. He was selected in the second round by the Carolina Panthers during the 2015 NFL Draft. Funchess didn’t have a terrible four years with Carolina — he had 2,223 and 21 touchdowns. But between injuries and other unforeseen issues, Funchess’ NFL career was never what was expected. He signed with the Indianapolis Colts after his four years with Carolina, but suffered a broken collarbone right away. He then signed with Green Bay in 2020, but opted out during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Packers put him back on IR in 2021, he signed with the Lions in 2022 but was released. He is now playing basketball overseas.
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The jury might still be out on Devin Bush, but after being an All-American at Michigan and the Pittsburgh Steelers trading up to the 10th overall pick to select Bush during the 2019 NFL Draft — Bush might be considered a miss by many. It appeared the Steelers made a great move and he would be anchoring the Steelers’ defense for many years. Bush was on the All-Rookie Team after surpassing 100 tackles during his rookie season. But he tore his ACL in year two, and by his fourth season, the Steelers declined his player option — even though he was over 80 tackles by his fourth season. Bush signed a one-year deal with Seattle in 2023, but didn’t make too much of an impact He is now with the Cleveland Browns in hopes of revitalizing his NFL career.
The Seattle Seahawks spent a third-round pick on Amara Darboh during the 2017 NFL Draft and it was not what Seattle was hoping for. He lasted one season with the Seahawks before they waived him. He failed physicals with both the New England Patriots and with Seattle — during a second stint. He had a brief stay with the Bucs, Steelers, Panthers, and Broncos. Darboh had just eight career NFL catches.
Jalen Mayfield raised some eyebrows when he chose to leave Michigan early and head to the 2021 NFL Draft. The Atlanta Falcons chose him in the third round in hopes of Mayfield being a starting lineman for them for years to come. Mayfield played in all 17 games for Atlanta during his rookie season with 16 starts, but that would be it. He missed the entire 2022 season due to injury and was cut in 2023. The New York Giants signed him to the practice squad and then re-signed him to a reserve/future contract.