I've got some catching up to do and Brian has done much of the catching up, so make sure you read his recruiting refocus posts for the offense and defense. I'm going to try to avoid mentioning stuff he's already put in there to avoid redundancy.

Ohio State Visit Fallout

Like I said, I've got some catching up to do.

The highest-profile official visitor for the OSU game was five-star FL OT Nicholas Petit-Frere. Sam Webb has insisted for a while that Michigan was very much in the race, and Steve Lorenz heard the visit "exceeded expectations," though Petit-Frere himself isn't showing his cards. He did connect with his player host, another academically inclined offensive tackle:

“I got a chance to hang out with a few of the players,” reported Petit-Frere. “I hung out with (his player host) Grant Newsome and some other players as well. It was a good time.”

“We had some commonalities that we shared between ourselves,” he later added. “I enjoyed being able to talk to them. It was really more about getting to ask them how school is, what is it like being there, and everything else.”

Alabama and Michigan both dropped by his school recently, per 247's John Garcia Jr.; his coach says distance won't play a factor in his decision.

The most important visitor from a team need perspective was top-100 NJ DT Tyler Friday, who's been quiet throughout his recruitment. As Brian mentioned today, Michigan is gaining a lot of momentum here after their visit, as evidenced by the multi-part parent interview treatment from Sam. If Tyler's reaction was anything like that of his dad, Michigan is sitting pretty:

With this official, my wife and I had been there twice already, so it wasn’t like there really was anything else for us to see. It was more of just getting confirmation of what it is academically, and one thing we know is Michigan is up there. It’s just one of the best academic schools out there. So it’s a great combination. Of course, it’s an excellent football program, which Tyler of course loves. With a future when you finish football, you’ll have that stamp of Michigan. It’s just an awesome combination to have. It’s perfect. We talked about the business school because Tyler wants to major in economics and they have the top five business school. Everything is plus, plus, plus. We just go down and check off the list and they have the criteria for what we, as parents, are looking for for our child.

The visitor who appears closest to a commitment is three-star GA TE Tommy Tremble, who'd long been considered a Notre Dame lean. Not so much anymore, as this quote he gave to The Wolverine's Brandon Brown indicates:

"It was awesome," he said. "It was probably the best visit I’ve had. How much the coaches all cared really stuck out. It was really cool to see that. They weren’t acting like car salesmen at all. They were genuine and caring people and really made it feel like they wanted me. They really care about the players and not just the program and on-field stuff. During my entire visit you could really tell what kind of people they all are. It was a really good time and the atmosphere for the game was great. It was just an all-around great trip."

Georgia and UCLA are also in the mix, but Michigan looks to have taken control here.

Michigan also made a big move with top-100 LA WR JaMarr Chase, according to Sam, who posted that he's hearing Michigan now holds the lead. The Wolverines will have to sweat out an upcoming official visit to TCU, a serious contender, but I still put in a Crystal Ball pick for the good guys.

Four-star NJ DE Jayson Oweh went into his visit with Ohio State and Penn State out in front. He told 247's Steve Wiltfong that Michigan gave him a lot to think about:

"I need to sit back and reevaluate everything but they impressed way more than I thought they would," he said.

The staff also made solid progress with underclassmen like 2019 four-star CO QB Luke McCaffrey (yep, another one), who said his brother Dylan "loves it" in Ann Arbor, and 2019 four-star VA safety Litchfield Ajavon, who said the Big House was "the loudest and most intense stadium" he's visited.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

This Weekend's Visitors: Commitment Watch?

In addition to the trio of potential Ole Miss transfers, Michigan is hosting some important high school targets this weekend.

The Wolverines could benefit from some of the recent coaching changes elsewhere. Three-star CA OT Jarrett Patterson decommitted from Arizona State following the program's Brandonization and has zeroed in on Michigan and UCLA. He'll take officials to those schools in the next two weekends before coming to a decision, he told Brandon Brown:

"I am pretty firm with those two unless someone else comes into the picture," Patterson said. "Right now I am feeling good with those schools. I really want to make this decision final and make sure it is the right place for me. It will be a decision made in January."

Tim Drevno was out to see him last week; M appears to be pushing hard.

Longtime UCLA WR commit Kyle Philips will also take an official after Michigan jumped in with an offer last month. He's a slot-type and an early enrollee, so he told TMI's Brice Marich a final decision would come soon; UCLA's 247 outlet thinks he'll stick with the Bruins now that Chip Kelly is on board. If JaMarr Chase ends up at Michigan, that's just fine.

Meanwhile, we could be on a commit watch for three-star GA ATH Michael Barrett, who got a Crystal Ball pick for Michigan from Wiltfong heading into this weekend's official. Michigan is looking at him as a true athlete; Georgia Tech, their primary competition, wants him as a quarterback. He certainly looks like a GT QB on film; he could also be a running back or perhaps even linebacker at Michigan, with some added Harbaugh gadget play/package potential.

Looking ahead, The Athletic's new hire, Midwest recruiting guru Jeremy Birmingham, reports three-star CA WR Chris Olave will take an official visit the weekend of December 16th. Olave's recruitment has blown up of late with offers from the likes of Michigan and Ohio State; those two and UCLA each have one selection on his Crystal Ball.

247 and Rivals Update Rankings

YOU CAN WATCH THESE AND I RECOMMEND IT

Both 247 and Rivals updated their 2018 rankings within the last week. The most notable move was linebacker commit Cameron McGrone shooting up to #31 overall on 247. If you watch the senior tape above... yeah, I see it too. The other major mover in the 247 rankings was GA OLB Otis Reese, who moved up 26 spots to #114 overall.

Reese was also a notable riser on Rivals, moving into borderline five-star territory at #42 overall:

“Reese is a monster. He is a very active defender who lined up all over in 2017. He plays fast, he plays physical and he is violent at the point of attack. Alec Ogletree is one that comes to mind when watching the Michigan commitment perform.” – Chad Simmons, Rivals.com Southeast Recruiting Analyst

Michigan badly wants to hold onto him but Georgia is going to be difficult to fend off; it sounds like M's best chance of holding on may be if the Dawgs fill up at OLB before Reese decides to flip. Here's hoping.

The other big mover in the Rivals rerank was FL QB Joe Milton, who slid 84 spots to #189 overall after a senior year in which his accuracy issues were still, uh, issues:

“It was a tough year for Milton, but everyone’s known that was a possibility for some time. A Michigan commit, Milton has every physical gift, including a monster arm but he continues to make poor decisions with the football and polish his footwork. Milton could end up being a superstar, but he still needs polishing. The ceiling is high.” - Cassidy

As Cassidy's writeup suggests, the outlook hasn't really changed; Milton is a boom-or-bust guy. In good news on that front, MLive reports he'll enroll early.

Etc.

TMI's Evan Petzold reports that four-star 2019 IN DE George Karlaftis, the Purdue legacy who committed to Purdue over offers from Michigan and Miami (YTM), will take a number of upcoming visits, including one to Ann Arbor. This one doesn't look over.

Michigan offered 2019 three-star dual-threat QB Taisun Phommachanh.