2020

The biggest 2020 event on the horizon comes from inside the state, as longtime top overall defensive target DE Braiden McGregor is set to announce his decision tonight. He was defensive line coach Shaun Nua’s first priority as soon as Nua got the job, though the entire staff has been involved in his recruitment. If you’re looking to frame how big this decision is for Michigan, he’s one of the recruits the staff FaceTimed from South Africa. McGregor’s decision is likely to come down to Michigan and Notre Dame, and Michigan is the overwhelming crystal ball favorite with 82%. WolverinesWire’s Evan Petzold wrote a McGregor decision primer in which he reports one source close to the Notre Dame side of things believes they’re out, while a source close to Michigan says they have no idea which school he’ll pick.

Even if Michigan misses they at least have a visit scheduled with top-200 NC DT Kedrick Bingley-Jones and actually they don’t play the same position and so it’s really not consolation and now this is an atrocious segue. Anyway, Bingley-Jones is 6’4”, 266 pounds, and 247’s Steve Lorenz says that his recruitment is pretty open right now. Bingley-Jones’ visit is an official, so we’ll have to wait for post-visit reports to gauge how serious the interest is. He wants to be an orthodontist and told The Wolverine’s Adam Ghabour he likes that Michigan had big-time football and the nation’s #3 dental school, so maybe he’ll also be a member of the Pre-Dental Association. I still have my t-shirt somewhere.

One player who’s actually a defensive end and recently picked up an offer is NC WDE Desmond Evans. Evans is the #2 WDE in the class (and is sandwiched between an Alabama commit and a player whose crystal ball is 100% Bama) and an important player to watch for a few reasons. The first is roster construction; Michigan’s taken one true WDE in the last two classes. The other is the stage of Evans’ recruitment. Though Michigan’s been involved with some players (like McGregor) for over a year and are just jumping into Evans’ recruitment in the past two weeks, they’re doing so with a player who has no clear-cut favorite. Lorenz made a point of noting Evans’ crystal ball was 67% cloudy, while Michael Clark, 247’s NC State reporter, writes that he thinks Evans’ decision will come down to NC State and UNC. In other words, it doesn’t seem like they have an overwhelming amount of ground to make up. Clark also provided a helpful timeline; he expects Evans to have a top seven by the end of the month and take all five officials, making a decision before November or December unlikely.

[After THE JUMP: on 2020 LBs and RBs, plus some quick 2021 and 2022 updates]

The 2020 class is 37.5% inside linebacker-types at this point after yesterday’s addition of MD LB Nikhai Hill-Green, but Lorenz reports that the staff may still add one or two players to the group. The most likely addition at this point is MD (though not St. Frances) LB Mitchell Melton, who will be on campus for an official visit on June 21 after officials to Notre Dame and Ohio State the two weekends prior, though Lorenz says they’re still in a good spot with MA LB Kalel Mullings. Mullings is ranked #8 among OLBs while Melton is #46, FWIW.

Michigan is also looking at a couple of players that fit the Josh Uche mold of hybrid DE/LBs. One such player is FL DE Jaylen Harrell, who is currently committed to Florida but was visited this week by members of Michigan’s staff. Harrell told 247’s Miami site that he’s looking to visit Michigan this spring or summer, so his interest is definitely there. He’s currently the 11th-ranked weak-side end in the class and #215 overall.

Also in that mold is GA DE/LB Choe Bryant-Strother. Lorenz reports that he thinks Michigan is going to continue to recruit (M made the three-star’s top 10) the former teammate of recent signee Chris Hinton, likely because he’s more of a tweener than an interior LB.

Switching sides of the ball, Steve Lorenz reports that Michigan is trying to make inroads with GA WR Nate McCollum despite his recent commitment to NC State. Lorenz says that offensive coordinator Josh Gattis is very high on McCollum—Chris Partridge was dispatched to see him in person earlier this week--but the staff isn’t sure at this time whether McCollum will take any additional visits.

Ed Warinner continues to get his targets to come through Ann Arbor, in some cases multiple times. CO OT Andrew Gentry, ranked #47 overall and the #6 OT in the composite, visited Michigan last weekend and, per Steve Lorenz, got the full academic presentation and came away impressed with the campus and renovations to Schembechler Hall. Apparently there’s more Gentry would like to see, as he scheduled an official visit for June 21.

Another top 100 (#73 overall, #2 OG) offensive lineman is set to visit campus in June, albeit unofficially. OK OG Andrew Raym will be in town June 8th for the first time. Raym committed to Oklahoma at the end of his sophomore season and decommitted last May, though they’re still the crystal ball favorite. Michigan and Oklahoma both made Raym’s recent top-five list alongside Georgia, LSU, and Texas A&M. Michigan will likely get an official visit from Raym as well.

Michigan has seemed to be on the verge of getting a commitment from a running back for months. A quick flip through tabs I still have open and ope look at that, here’s an article on NJ RB Jalen Berger telling Rivals’ Adam Friedman Michigan and Ohio State are his leaders, an old piece on Michigan offering FL RB Marvin Scott III, and an article on MD RB Blake Corum that lists his top four of LSU, Kentucky, USC, and Michigan before issuing a reminder that all five crystal balls are on Michigan, as if Corum saying Michigan is recruiting him hardest isn't enough.

We can add a few more to the list. Michigan recently offered OK RB Isaiah Jacobs, brother of former Alabama RB Josh Jacobs. There’s a fair amount of dispute between services; he’s ranked #894 overall and #63 at his position in the composite, but 247 has him #659 overall and #50 at his position. Michigan’s had their eye on him for a while, as Lorenz notes that they reported earlier in the month that Jacobs was a player on the staff’s radar. Rivals’ Adam Ghabour spoke with Jacobs, who told him he really doesn’t know much about Michigan but does have some familiarity with OC Josh Gattis, as that was his brother’s offensive coordinator last season. LA RB Kyle Edwards also picked up an offer this week. Like Jacobs he’s a three-star, though there’s not much split between 247 and the composite—he’s #462 overall and #34 at his position in the composite. Edwards is staring down a breakout season, as he’s only seen limited time so far because he was backing up 2019’s #13 overall player John Emery Jr.. Edwards told Brice Marich that he likes how Michigan cares for their players, citing the international trips as one example. A reader emailed us about Jay Harbaugh stopping by to see Edwards and had nothing but praise for him, which is what he said Harbaugh had for Edwards. The biggest competition for Edwards at the moment comes from Notre Dame, which brings our 2020 update full circle.

2021

Not all of Michigan’s recent visitors have been 2020s. IL OT David Davidkov visited last weekend and came away impressed with the things that are typically mentioned in visit recaps: academics, the stadium, and the new weight room. The thing that Davidkov mentioned that isn’t always a focal point of those kind of articles was the number of years of experience the coaches have in the NFL and Ed Warinner’s track record of producing NFL linemen. Davidkov, ranked #16 at offensive tackle and #100 overall by 247, told The Michigan Insider’s Brice Marich that he plans to visit again this summer and then come back for a few games.

Recent commit and top-20 prospect IL QB JJ McCarthy will be on campus again on June 10th, according to Brice Marich. That’s good news that’s only made better in light of a recent Ari Wasserman piece on The Athletic about McCarthy’s recruitment. It seems safe to say he’ll never be setting foot in Ohio State’s football facility again. McCarthy says that new Ohio State head coach told him he wouldn’t be accepting a commitment from a 2021 quarterback until the end of summer, then accepting a commitment from Kyle McCord at the end of April. McCarthy said he didn’t feel the “big family tradition” atmosphere when he visited, and he soon understood why. He told Wasserman he gets that it’s a business. He also said this:

“I used to love them,” McCarthy said. “Now I want to kill them.”

McCarthy grew up a Buckeyes fan and was presumed to be an Ohio State lock until they cast him aside and turned him into Michigan’s highest-ranked QB recruit since Blockbuster was a thing. Oops!

2022

Brice Marich put in a crystal ball for MA LB Tyler Martin, a Don Brown special whom he’s been recruiting since Martin was in eighth grade (!) and who is teammates with recent four-star commit Zak Zinter.