Michigan LB Jaishawn Barham declines to declare for NFL Draft, staying at Michigan

On Thursday, the entire list of college football underclassmen that declared for the 2025 NFL Draft was released. As expected, Michigan Wolverines like Will Johnson, Colston Loveland, Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham were on the list.

But one notable player that has yet to officially announce his plans for the 2025 season was not included on the list — linebacker Jaishawn Barham.

Additionally, with the portal closed for non-graduate transfers until the spring, that means Barham is officially back for the 2025 season.

This is great news for the Wolverines, as Barham was a standout player in 2024. He appeared in all of Michigan’s games this season and finished the year with 66 total tackles, four tackles for loss, two pass breakups and one sack.

He was arguably Michigan’s biggest addition from the transfer portal following the 2023 season. Barham came over from Maryland where he was a two-year starter, making 23 starts across his freshman and sophomore seasons. In that time, he complied 95 tackles, including 10 for a loss, seven sacks and one interception.

During Barham’s 2022 campaign, he was named a first-team Freshman All-American by the College Football News. He also earned All-Big Ten honorable mentions from the media. During his sophomore year in 2023, Barham earned All-Big Ten honorable mentions from the coaches.

Originally a native of District Heights, Maryland, Barham was a highly sought after recruit. He was ranked as a four-star recruit and was the No. 119 overall player in the 2022 class according to the 247Sports composite. He played his high school ball at St. Frances Academy and chose to commit to Maryland over the likes of South Carolina, Penn State, and Oklahoma.

Now with Barham back for his senior year, Michigan will head into the offseason with its entire nucleus of linebackers from last year. Ernest Hausmann is also back for his senior year, and Jimmy Rolder is an exciting, ascending soon-to-be junior. Not to mention, Cole Sullivan is a player the coaches are very high on, and incoming true freshman Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng was a heavily recruited prospect in the 2025 class.