Quite A Catch

Five-star 2019 GA DE Chris Hinton has an important announcement to make:

I'm the best fisher in the family pic.twitter.com/SU0y0N15xF

— Christopher hinton (@Thechrishinton) July 5, 2017

oh, did you think I meant

ah, yeah, I can see why you'd think that

my bad, everyone

The Opening: Michigan Commits

Sam Webb and Josh Newkirk recap The Opening.

Nike's elite invite-only camp, The Opening, took place last weekend, and pretty much the entirety of this post will be devoted to the post-camp fallout. Michigan had four commits participate: guard Emil Ekiyor, running back Christian Turner, and defensive backs Myles Sims and Gemon Green.

Emil Ekiyor put his dukes up for a second: https://t.co/OjIJclZ4Xl pic.twitter.com/1lTJKZe7QV

— Allen Trieu (@AllenTrieu) July 3, 2017

Ekiyor, who was feeling a bit scrappy, had a strong weekend, earning an invite to the Army All-American Game. He showed a lot of progress in pass protection, according to TMI's Josh Newkirk, and excelled in the run-blocking portion on day two, earning a top performer nod from 247's Steve Wiltfong:

Michigan center commit Emil Ekiyor flashed athletically in offensive line drills and come the competition portion showed he can bang with the very best. He defeated Ohio State five-star defensive tackle commit Taron Vincent in a run blocking 1-on-1 drill and impressed overall with his strength and feet at the point of attack. The 247Sports Composite ranks Ekiyor as the nation’s No. 4 offensive guard but he moves to center as a senior this fall.

Ekiyor's ability to play center may further explain why Michigan hasn't gone after in-state four-star Tyrone Sampson; between Cesar Ruiz and Ekiyor, that position is well-stocked for the future, and both of those guys are better-suited to sliding over to guard than Sampson.

#Michigan commit Myles Sims defends the deep ball in 7-on-7 action at #TheOpening pic.twitter.com/CcWNdgjQF9

— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) July 2, 2017

Sims showed that while he's considered a safety by many due to his length, he's got the fluidity to play corner. TMI's Gene Hankerson:

Michigan cornerback commit Myles Sims had a really good day.  You can’t miss him, because the kid is freakishly long and lengthy.  I watched Sims during drills, and was surprised with how fluid his hips were in and out of breaks.  He transferred that over to the 1 on 1’s where for the most part he ran stride for stride with receivers and broke up several passes.

247's Keith Neibuhr added that Sims "seemed to be in the right place a lot."

Green also made life tough on opposing quarterbacks. While I can't find any clips of him posted to Twitter, he made 247's top performers list for Texas prospects:

One of the most underrated recruits in the state, Green was extremely impressive today. The Michigan commit played shallow for his team and didn’t allow anything underneath. Green finished the day with four pass breakups and also notched a big interception.

Finally, Turner showed some wiggle in the Make 'Em Miss drill:

Saturday night at #TheOpening - #Michigan commit Christian Turner in Make em miss drill vs Payton Wilson pic.twitter.com/O8BmcIlGWB

— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) July 2, 2017

It was otherwise a quiet weekend for him, as the entire running back group was held in check by an impressive group of linebackers, per 247's Hank South:

Michigan commit Christian Turner looked good running routes, but didn’t show much in the 1-on-1 portion. Again, the linebacker corps dominated the entire running back position as a whole on the night.

On the plus side, at least one of said linebackers looks like a good bet to join Turner in the class.

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

The Opening Targets: The Best Bets

Since pretty much everything from here on out is interviews conducted at The Opening, I'm dividing the sections by likelihood of a commitment to Michigan, starting with the players that the Wolverines either lead for or are close to it.

Momentum continues to swing Michigan's way for four-star IN ILB Cameron McGrone, whose recruitment is down to a Michigan-Notre Dame battle. McGrone plans to visit both schools this months, and Wiltfong just flipped his crystal ball to the Wolverines, saying he wouldn't be surprised if McGrone pulls the trigger at the BBQ at the Big House. He sounds like he'd be a nice addition:

While Tindall doesn't let running backs get around him, McGrone doesn’t even let them get going. The Indiana native was regularly stopping running backs behind the line of scrimmage because of how well he accelerates to the football.

Like Ekiyor, McGrone's performance earned him an Army game invite.

Four-star NC DT Rick Sandidge has emerged as the most likely defensive tackle target to wind up in the class. He was still speaking highly of his recent Michigan visit at The Opening:

“I had a good time,” Sandidge told 247Sports analyst Luke Stampini on Saturday night. “I had a real good time. Once again, I had that feeling. I got to the coaches. The coaches stopped me and I actually got to watch film. They just sat me down for 30 or 40 minutes just watching film.”

247's Steve Lorenz believes Sandidge is M's best shot at a top defensive tackle in this cycle.

It's been back-and-forth between Michigan and ND for four-star OLB Shayne Simon. He told Wiltfong it's still a tight battle:

"Michigan and Notre Dame are narrower in my mind than some other schools," Simon told 247Sports Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong. "I'd say they're both neck and neck. There are still some other schools involved though."

While it looked like he was close to a decision this spring, he told Scout he's looking at official visits, so his recruitment could take a while to play out—or he could be keeping his options open after an early commitment. If the Irish can't greatly improve upon 4-8, that would be good news for Michigan. Ohio State, Penn State, and UCLA are the other schools in the mix.

The Opening Targets: Top Group

Jeremy Ruckert with the TD pass from Matt Corral at #TheOpening. Corral told us he initiated contact with #Michigan again pic.twitter.com/hY8z6VbAez

— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) July 2, 2017

While four-star NY TE Jeremy Ruckert cut his list to four after a spectacular showing over the weekend, Ohio State remains the favorite, and there's not much time to make up ground, per Scout's Brian Dohn:

With no visits planned -- Michigan's Big House Barbecue and Ohio State's Friday Night Lights later this month are possibilities -- and the desire to announce a school soon, the Lindenhurst (N.Y.) High standout is in the final throes of his recruitment.

"Pretty close," the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Ruckert said at The Opening Finals. "Probably the beginning of the summer, after I get out of here and situated. I'll talk it over with my family."

Of his final group, which also contains Notre Dame and Wisconsin, Michigan has the best chance of unseating the Buckeyes, but they'll probably need that BBQ visit to come to fruition to have a chance.

One recent visitor who hasn't been mentioned around here is three-star FL OLB David Reese, not to be confused with the other linebacker David Reese, the native Michigander who ended up at Florida after an initial commitment to the Wolverines. He told 247's Luke Stampini he wants to make a decision at the end of the summer and Michigan is in contention:

“I plan on getting up to Florida,” Reese said. “I just got back from Michigan a week ago. That was pretty good, but I think I’m going to get up to Florida and Ohio State.”

Reese was impressed with his visit to see the Wolverines.

“It was real good. I talked to some of the players. I talked to Coach [Don] Brown, watched some film, went over some games, just kind of saw the campus and just kind of toured it…I like Coach Brown’s defensive scheme, his energy for football.”

Miami (YTM) and Florida have all the picks on his crystal ball.

Another name that hasn't hit this space yet is four-star CA DB Bryan Addison, who told 247's Luke Stampini that Michigan is making a strong pitch for him:

"The Big House," Addison told 247Sports regarding what he likes about Michigan. "They have the biggest fan base. Playing for Michigan has been a dream for me to be honest. They've all just started texting me and saying they're fired up to bring me in. They want me at safety and possibly at wideout; I like the idea of playing on both sides of the ball."

Addison added that UCLA is another program who has a great chance of making his final group of five. As of now, he is planning to either commit at his high school homecoming game or at the Army All-American game next January.

USC could be a major contender, but Lorenz says they're currently not pushing for Addison, which has opened the door for Michigan to be "a real contender."

Four-star GA WR Kearis Jackson has Michigan in his top eight and will take a final round of visits before a planned August 5th decision. He'll make a stop in Ann Arbor, per Scout's Michael Clark:

"I'm going to Auburn, Ohio State and Michigan," Jackson said. "I've been to Auburn before, but it will be my first time at Ohio State and Michigan. I haven't set the dates yet, but I'm going to try to take all of them this month.

He'll also visit Alabama and Georgia. This is the type of recruitment I would've dismissed last year, but given Michigan's recent success in Georgia, I'm not ruling out their chances.

While Alabama could be tough to beat, Michigan is making a push for four-star IL TE Luke Ford, who's looking to visit soon, per Newkirk:

“He’s been talking to me a lot,” Ford said of Frey. “I like Michigan a lot. They’ve had some awesome tight end production these past few years, a Mackey award winner (Jake Butt), I’m probably going to take a visit after (The Opening on July 29).”

Ford plans to take his recruitment close to Signing Day.

In the same vein, hometown Oregon—with Harbaugh protege Willie Taggert at the helm—may be tough to top for four-star ATH Tulanoa Hufanga, but he's showing legitimate interest in Michigan:

"Michigan is really up there," Hufanga told 247Sports Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong. "That's a place I really want to get a look at. Coach Harbaugh over there, they did well last year. One thing that intrigued me about them is that they'll play guys on both sides of the ball. That's something you want to see. I keep that in my mind because they've shown they'll do it. Michigan said they'd allow me to give it a try; they talk about Jabrill Peppers a lot."

The Peppers pitch remains a good one.

Four-star CT-by-way-of-FL CB Josh Jobe is a longtime Miami (YTM) pledge who's allowed his eye to wander a bit. He told Scout's John Garcia Jr. that he'll visit Alabama and Michigan, and his Miami pledge sounds less than firm:

Jobe admits a final decision is not yet in and he has no timetable for finalizing one. There is a plan, though.

"The recruiting process is great, but it's a business decision at the end of the day," he said. "I love the Michigan coaches, the 'Bama coaches, they are three top schools. Wherever I go, it's a business decision, I'm doing it for my family.

"I'm just going to go through the process."

Trust the process, I guess.

Behemoth IMG-by-way-of-Australia OT Daniel Faalele had some ups and downs at The Opening as he learns football on the fly against elite competition. He's set a decision date of November 9th, his birthday, and has the Wolverines in his top group:

What teams have put themselves into the mix over the past few months?

“FSU, Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan and LSU,” he said. “Those are a couple teams that talk to me a lot and recruit me a lot.

"I am just trying to feel out where I am most comfortable right now.”

The Vols have picked up some crystal balls for Faalele but there's a long way to go here; how hard Michigan pushes will depend on how much they like his progress when he hits the field this fall for his first actual game experience.

The Opening Targets: Longshots

Five-star CA QB Matt Corral recently decommitted from USC and reached out to Jim Harbaugh; Michigan has thrown their hat into the ring:

“I called Coach Jim Harbaugh after I decommited, he said he’ll keep me in the loop on where things stand," Corral told The Michigan Insider. "A few days later I got a call from coach Pep Hamilton, he was just explaining if I wanted Michigan to be in my recruitment they would be there. So it’s kind of up to me if I really want to go there.”

While it's a nice sign that Corral contacted Harbaugh, Georgia is reportedly the new team to beat. Alabama has also offered, and it'll be a dogfight to land him. Given Michigan's stocked quarterback depth chart and the commitment from Joe Milton, the effort needed to have a legit chance may not be worth expending.

Five-star CA CB Isaac Taylor-Stuart, who won the fastest man contest at The Opening, keeps mentioning a desire to take an official visit to Michigan. Meanwhile, everyone expects him to end up at USC, including Wiltfong:

The nation’s No. 3 cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart spoke highly about Michigan and Ohio State but at this point it would still be surprising to see him sign anywhere but USC.

One of the reasons Rick Sandidge appears the most likely DT to end up in the class is Mizzou's strong push for four-star MO DT Michael Thompson, who plans to decide in the very near future. That should go Mizzou's way, though that won't be the end of his recruitment, per Newkirk:

“I’m probably going to do it in a week or two,” Thompson said.

What does that mean for the rest of his recruitment? Well, it doesn’t stop right there, he admits.

In fact, despite his eventual commitment later this month, he noted that he would still be looking at Missouri, Nebraska, LSU, Michigan and Ohio State as potential landing spots and will “for sure” be taking official visits to other programs.

Michigan should stay in pursuit unless they fill up at DT. Thompson is a top-tier talent.

Four-star GA OLB JJ Peterson hasn't been mentioned much here, and despite having Michigan in his top five, that looks like it's going to remain the case:

"It's five, I'll say 'Bama, Oregon, Auburn, Georgia and Michigan," he said. "It's just 'Bama. 'Bama and Oregon are the top two. I visited Alabama two weeks ago, it was straight. 'Bama is 'Bama, everything is rollin'. After that, I went to the Big Cat Weekend (at Auburn) and chilled for the day."

Peterson reports nearly pulling the trigger for the Crimson Tide earlier this year. 

Wild guess: Bama.

Four-star MO DE Ronnie Perkins included Michigan on a list of contenders, but it's a list that in pursuit of leader Oklahoma. This is an only-if-he-visits sort of situation.

Steve Lorenz mentions three prospects for whom Michigan's chances are fading: four-star WR Kamryn Babb, four-star OT William Barnes, and three-star S Jamien Sherwood. Babb looks destined for Ohio State; Barnes is down to Florida, Florida State, and North Carolina; Sherwood is leaning towards Auburn. Of the three, M has the best chance with Sherwood.

Etc.

Lorenz just published a free list of the top five prospects most likely to commit to Michigan next, with McGrone leading the way. Ruckert is also on there; while OSU is the presumed favorite, he's gone dark with the media, which provides some hope.

Top-ranked 2019 QB JT Daniels had to cancel his planned visit for the A4 quarterback camp, but he'll be on campus for the BBQ on the 29th, per Lorenz.

Four-star 2019 Detroit King CB Marvin Grant is looking to visit campus soon, per TMI's Brice Marich.