michael redding

This post exists because Michigan’s coaching staff has been pounding the proverbial pavement in an unprecedented (since I took over writing these, at least) way. So many 2020 offers have gone out recently, and so many have generated quote-filled articles on the sites of the usual suspects, that it necessitated spinning off another post to cover everything; I realized this when I hit 1800 words and still had over 20 tabs open.

With the spate of offers, I feel going over a recent post from 247’s Steve Lorenz is a good way to start before diving into the minutiae of who got offered when and who’s got what other offers and when is such and such visiting. I wasn’t sure how to go about chronicling all the 2020 offers that went out because it just seemed like there so many that some must not mean that much, but Lorenz cautions against that. In his words:

Junior film is probably the most important opportunity for a prospect to establish themselves at the top of a school's recruiting board; offers made right now are usually notable and worth following.

He does, however, caution against putting too much stock in late-cycle in-state offers. Lorenz looked back at the last four classes and posited that Michigan’s in-state take rate might be around 50%. He says that we’re in the heart of the 2020 process right now, so reserve your skepticism for later in the season.

On that note, might want to hold back on casting judgement based on where a recruit is currently ranked. Lorenz:

There are numerous examples of prospects Michigan has gotten in on early who have risen continuously throughout the process. The flip side of this is true as well; many players who are ranked highly at this point will not be recruited heavily by the staff and you will see their ranking fall as the cycle continues. Overall, their evaluation abilities tend to be among the best I've seen.

Keep in mind that the final rankings for 2019 just came out and some 2019s are already enrolled and on campus. To Steve’s point, Trente Jones, Zach Charbonnet, Cornelius Johnson, Karsen Barnhart, and Giles Jackson are solid examples of guys who shot up the rankings from when Michigan first expressed interest to the end of the cycle.

[After THE JUMP: pretty sure Chris Hinton and DJ Turner have one degree of separation from everyone in the 2020 class below the Mason-Dixon line]