Michigan Football Recruiting: The 2018 class is loaded with upside
Michigan football may not have the highest ranked 2018 recruiting class, but with some the upside, it could be much better than it appears.
It’s hard to look at what happened on National Signing Day to Michigan football and make it a positive. There is no way to sugar coat it, losing Otis Reese to Georgia was a big blow.
Not only is Reese a spectacular player, but losing the only top-100 player in the class, on the final day after almost two years, is tough to take. It also dropped Michigan football to No. 21 in the 247 composite rankings.
But really, what do rankings matter? Michigan has had tons of highly ranked classes over the years. Rich Rod had a bunch and so did Brady Hoke. The fact remains that the Wolverines are going to get good players. They always have and they always will.
It’s entirely possible that the rough close to the 2018 season caused some recruits, including Reese to change his mind. That’s fine, it happens. The best way to fix it, is to fix things on the field. And with a 2016 class that ranked eighth and the one in 2017 that ranked in the top 5, Michigan football is more than capable of doing just that.
The Wolverines are loaded with NFL talent across the board, on both sides of the ball. The offense has guys like Tarik Black, Donovan Peoples-Jones, hopefully Shea Patterson too. Cesar Ruiz is another guy that should have a breakout season in 2018, along with fellow offensive line Ben Bredeson, who was the second-highest recruit in the 2016 class behind Rashan Gary.
Zach Gentry is another talented player at tight end and Karan Higdon, as well as Chris Evans and even Kareem Walker are all very skilled. Defensively, Michigan is even more loaded. Chase Winovich could be an early-round pick in 2019 and Gary could go in the top 10.
Aubrey Solomon is another superstar in the making, along with Devin Bush, Khaleke Hudson, Lavert Hill, David Long, Josh Mettellus and Tyree Kinnel. Then, you have second-year guys like Ambry Thomas, David Singleton and Anthony Jordan all ready to make an impact. Josh Ross and James Hudson are other names to watch on defense.
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Don’t get me wrong, it would have been nice to get another top-5 recruiting class. Michigan football will need to get those more consistently if it wants to starting beating Penn State and Ohio State. However, the 2018 class isn’t going to kill the Wolverines. It’s a nice complement to what the program already has and the other thing, is a number of players have a ton of upside.
Michael Barrett is one guy to watch. His upside is evident. It wouldn’t be shocking if he played right away, as a running back, slot receiver and wildcat quarterback. He was a 3-star quarterback/athlete, but at running back, he will be a star.
Another lower-rated player to be excited about is corner Vincent Gray. At the end of 2017, he wasn’t getting tons of high-profile offers. Yet, in the months leading up to National Signing Day, he was getting more and more popular.
The 6-2, 180-pound corner was committed one time to Missouri and got offers from Wisconsin, Oregon, West Virginia, Minnesota, Stanford, Washington State, UCLA and a bunch of others. Yet, he ended up signing with the Wolverines.
It’s not easy to predict which 3-star prospects will be stars, but guys like Gray, who get noticed kind of late in the game are good candidates. He will probably redshirt will the all the depth in the secondary, but keep an eye on him.
Julius Welschof is another guy dripping with potential. Michigan football has one 6-6 defensive end in Aidan Hutchinson. But when UM flipped Welschof from Georgia Tech in December, it acquired another.
The German-born defensive end is a monster of a man and has only played football for a short time. If the Wolverines can continue to develop him, he has the physical tools to be dominant. Taylor Upshaw, another 3-star defensive end that’s 6-5, is another guy to be excited about. His bloodlines and size make him intriguing.
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Those guys along with the seven 4-star recruits give Michigan football more than enough to work with. In a couple years, the 2018 class could be viewed in a much better light than it is now. We’ll see if that comes true, but one thing is for sure, the potential is there. It just needs to be realized.