Portal!

NEEDS

The portal is a different game than recruiting high schoolers and for a team like Michigan they're generally looking for a few key plug and play pieces, especially since they've historically struggled to get undergrad transfers in. There does seem to be some movement on that front given a number of confirmed undergrad transfer offers, but we'll see how that actually plays out.

Michigan does not seem to need anyone at QB, WR, DT, LB, or S at the moment. With the addition of OL LaDarius Henderson I would imagine that Michigan is pretty set there as well if they are able to keep the guards out of the NFL draft with NIL money. That leaves the following spots as ones of interest, ranked in approximate order of need:

Cornerback. If DJ Turner and Gemon Green both go to the draft Michigan will be looking for a CB very hard. They will return Will Johnson and Mike Sainristil but they have nobody else who's seen a snap and no seemingly sure thing amongst the other freshmen or this recruiting class.

Tight end. Michigan will have Colston Loveland and Max Bredeson back next year; because they are Michigan that means they are two short of a full crew. Matt Hibner got some time last year and may step up but there's no clear option at #4.

Edge. Michigan will presumably lose Mike Morris. They bring back Eyabi Okie, Braiden McGregor, Derrick Moore, Taylor Upshaw (probably), and Jaylen Harrell. None of those guys is a burly anchor type and none of those guys is a sure thing to be a rush end. More lottery tickets here may be advisable.

Running back. If Blake Corum heads to the draft Michigan has CJ Stokes and (probably) Kalel Mullings to take some of the load off of Donovan Edwards, but if a Braelon Allen-level mooseback is available to be 1B to Edwards's 1A there is clearly an interest from Michigan. Anyone short of that and Michigan might as well roll with what they've got.

BPA. I mean if there's a dude, you know?

One note: scholarship limits no longer exist at a school like Michigan. Do you know how many "scholarship" players Michigan carried last year? 88. The ones that didn't fit in the 85 just got NIL. We are no longer bothering to bother with the "how many" question.

[After THE JUMP: names]

CONFIRMED INTEREST

FCS up-transfer TEs were good last year [Cal Poly]

Josh Cuevas, TE, Cal Poly. Reported a Michigan offer and recently told 247 that once Michigan checks out his transcripts he will be taking an official. He's already visited Washington and also plans on seeing Utah. Cuevas is coming off a true freshman season with 58 catches and 678 yards; he's got three years left.

Josiah Stewart, OLB, Coastal Carolina. Reports an offer and is down to a top 3 of M, LSU, and USC. Josh Henscke reports that Stewart's family is close with Mike Sainristil's family—they attended the same high school. Michigan has offered and is recruiting him. Not a grad transfer and not from a school that's a slam dunk to have credits transfer so could be an interesting test to see whether the Terrance Shannon problem is getting resolved or not.

Myles Hinton, OT, Stanford. Hinton is a former five-star and the brother of former Michigan DT Chris Hinton. Josh Henschke reported that Michigan has had preliminary contact with him. Serious pursuit seems doubtful because Michigan has already taken one transfer OL and a second could cause an exodus of guys who feel like they've been recruited over. If Michigan thinks they're going to lose one of the guards you could see this heat up. Hinton has two years left, FWIW.

Fentrell Cypress, CB, Virginia. Wiltfong listed ND and Michigan as schools of interest for Cypress but Michigan has not been mentioned heavily since. Wiltfong's latest does not mention Michigan; he has set up a visit to UCLA. If Cypress does have interest in M he's clearly the #1 target on the board as a plug-and-play high level cornerback.

UPDATE: AJ Barner, TE, Indiana. Per Rivals, visiting this week. Captain last year, 28 catches, 6'6".

SPECULATIVE

Grimes is a plug and play DB [goheels.com]

Tony Grimes, CB, UNC. One of two All-ACC Tarheel corners in the portal, Mike Farrell listed Michigan amongst Grimes's suitors. Former five star coming off two years as a starter on UNC's pretty mediocre defense, but seems like he's not personally responsible for that. Should have two years left since 2020 was COVID season.

Storm Duck, CB, UNC. Also one of two All-ACC Tarheel corners in the portal, everyone wants Duck to transfer to Oregon. If he doesn't Michigan should be poking around. As of yet I can't find any details on what his process looks like or who's after him hard.

Braden Fiske, DT, WMU. Instater who took a recent visit to Notre Dame; 10.5 TFLs and 4.5 sacks last year as an interior DL. Michigan does not need interior DL, but file under BPA. Fiske played a butt-ton of snaps and has a bunch of high-level offers. Still unclear whether Michigan is involved outside of one passing mention. 

Andre Carter, DE, WMU. Ye gods, you try googling for this guy when there's a defensive end at Army named Andre Carter who's a potential first round draft pick. Like Fiske he's picked up a lot of offers that should perk up Michigan coaches' ears; unike Fiske he plays a position in which Michigan is not stacked back to front. Seven sacks and 11 hurries last year as he was named second-team All-MAC.

Stephen Herron Jr, DE, Stanford. Unlike a couple other Michigan decommits we'll mention briefly below, Herron is a viable target. His stats aren't great but his play was pretty good per PFF:

PFF had him with 40 pressures on the season and his 90.1 pass rush grade on true pass sets (no screens, play-action, roll outs, no quick game) was 8th in the country. He had a breakout season on a bad team and if he was surrounded by better players around him, I think those sack numbers could shoot up.

There's absolutely no buzz about where he might end up other than various fans going "maybe this guy?"

Seydou Traore, TE, Arkansas State. Caught 50 passes for 655 yards in the Sun Belt this year and still has a lot of runway since his background is fantastical:

Came to America in hopes to earn a Division I football scholarship, never having competed in 11-man football . . . Spent one season in the United States . . . Former standout soccer goalie in London

Not much of a blocker but did this to OSU:

A ridiculous catch by Arkansas State TE Seydou Traorepic.twitter.com/JYyOpOue1h

— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) September 10, 2022

Might be of interest, but Loveland seems to have the flex position on lockdown the next couple years.

Kyle Morlock, TE, Shorter. Division II AA has visited FSU twice and has visits on the docket with Illinois, Auburn, and Tennessee. No mention of Michigan involvement yet. 6'7", 245, and has two years left.

Ernest Hausmann, LB, Nebraska. Hausmann is transferring after a true freshman season in which he was pressed into duty before he was ready due to injuries to Nebraska starters. The information about interest is coming from Iowa, which is getting him for a visit; their 247 site asserts that Michigan "could play a factor." Hausmann is more like a recruit than most transfers, with three years and a redshirt left.

Nick Gargiulo, C, Yale. All-Ivy C with decent PFF grades (yes, PFF, but Ivy so we're not getting any other data) who seems to want to transfer to Michigan given twitter activity. Seems unlikely he'd be an upgrade over current options, but you never know. He does have a wide array of mid-level P5 offers.

PROBABLY NOT

Kevonte Henry, edge, Oklahoma. Henry is a name of note because he flipped away from a Michigan commitment on Signing Day last year, but even if Michigan was able to get over that dastardly act 247 reported that Henry's in-season departure from Oklahoma was because of a "flat refusal to submit to disciplinary action." Doesn't seem like a fit.

Mario Eugenio, edge, Cincinnati. Same situation here: Michigan decommit who was indefinitely suspended from Cincinnati.

Dasan McCullough, edge, Indiana. This looks like it's wired to Oklahoma. McCullough's younger brother is a four-star Cincinnati commit and this might be a package deal, though, and if Michigan's recent UC flips get in his ear that might change things.

Ositadinma Ekwonu, edge, Notre Dame. Henschke also reported some interest from him and he did get coached by Mike Elston, but Ekwonu was completely buried on the ND depth chart and it seems unlikely that Michigan would take him and hope he busts out. He looks like a down-transfer.