2016 Michigan Football Recruiting Early Review
By David Cuff
Apr 4, 2015; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh looks up at the score board with the referee during the Spring football game at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
There is still a long way to go before the 2016 Michigan Football recruiting class is complete, but the class is off to a great start. The Wolverines have six current commitments and are in the running for quite a few more. Of the six commitments Michigan currently has, three of them are ranked in the ESPN top 300 and are four star recruits. The other three are solid three star prospects.
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The biggest name in the class thus far is quarterback Brandon Peters. Michigan will already have a lot of talent at the position for next year, but you can never have enough competition. Peters may redshirt while the likes of Shane Morris, Wilton Speight, Zach Gentry, Alex Malzone, and John O’Korn battle it out for the starting job in 2016. Peters has great size at 6-foot-4, 209 pounds, and he has all the skills you look for in a pocket passer.
Running back Matt Falcon is another one of Michigan’s four star recruits. One of the greatest positions of need for Michigan currently is at running back. They have some talented runners, but it remains to be seen if any of them will step and grab the brass ring this year. At 6-foot-1, 215 pounds Flacon has good size, and he also brings 4.41 speed to the table. The most intriguing thing about Falcon is that he has become a top running back recruit even though he missed half of his junior season due to injury. The hometown kid from Southfield, MI has a chance to climb up recruiting boards as a senior, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him as a five star recruit when it’s all said and done.
The final four star recruit currently in the class is offensive tackle Erik Swenson. Swenson has elite size for a tackle already at 6-foot-6, 280 pounds. The main things he needs to work on are foot work and fundamentals. A year under Michigan’s coaching staff will improve those areas real quick. Swenson is the first, but certainly won’t be the last offensive lineman added to the 2016 class.
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The three star recruits in the class include a couple of linebackers in Dele’ Harding and David Reese, and a running back in Kingston Davis. Both linebackers have a lot of talent and project to play on the inside at the next level. Davis is a prototypical power back who should fit well in Jim Harbaugh’s system.
This will be Harbaugh’s first full recruiting class at Michigan so there is a lot of pressure for it to be a great one. It’s already off to a good start and will only be getting better as the months go by. One big name to look for is defensive tackle, and number one recruit in the country, Rashan Gary. He is heavily considering Michigan and would be a huge boost to the 2016 class.