After playing without him for two of its last three games, Michigan received an unfortunate injury update on star running back Justice Haynes.
The Wolverines' leading rusher has been hobbled since Week 7, when he suffered a lower-body injury against USC. The junior will now undergo foot surgery in the coming days, which puts his rest-of-season outlook in doubt, according to CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz.
Michigan only has three regular season games remaining for Haynes to potentially return. The type of foot surgery he is likely in for typically takes roughly six weeks to recover from.
Despite missing two games, Haynes is Michigan's leading rusher with 857 rushing yards on an elite 7.1 yards per carry. He was the leading rusher in the Big Ten entering Week 6 and is still second in the conference in that category. Haynes had quietly emerged as a dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate before going down.
Haynes leads all Power Four running backs with 122 rushing yards per game, according to Zenitz. That includes the Wolverines' Week 6 game against USC, during which he exited early and did not return.
As a junior, Haynes is eligible to enter the 2026 NFL Draft. He was not on scouts' radars at the beginning of the season, but has played himself into becoming a potential Day Two selection if he decides to go that route.
Although the loss hurts, Michigan will be in no rush to force Haynes back onto the field. The Wolverines will instead turn to sophomore Jordan Marshall, who would have been a Week 1 starter for nearly any other team.
Michigan RB Justice Haynes injury sets up Jordan Marshall
Without Haynes, nothing about Michigan's run-first game plan will change. The Wolverines have full confidence in Marshall, who is coming off a career-best performance against Purdue.
In Michigan's two games without Haynes, Marshall is averaging 134.5 rushing yards per game on 5.98 yards per carry. He enters the Wolverines' Week 11 bye with 729 rushing yards and three consecutive 100-yard games.
Marshall initially broke through in the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl. He got the start for the shorthanded Wolverines with Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullings opting out and racked up 100 rushing yards against Alabama to claim the bowl MVP award.
Had Haynes not gotten hurt, Michigan was on track to have two 1,000-yard running backs in the 2025 college football season. Instead, it will be the red-hot Cincinnati native engineering Sherrone Moore's offense against Northwestern, Maryland and Ohio State to close out the season.
