Michigan Football: Wolverines continue to load up on defense in 2020

Michigan football added another key commitment Friday from the 2020 class as the Wolverines landed four-star linebacker Osman Savage.

When it comes to names you could have as a football player, you can’t do much better than the newest Michigan football commit Osman Savage.

Savage, who is a four-star outside linebacker from Maryland, committed to Michigan football Friday morning and became the highest-rated player in the Wolverines 2020 class which now has seven commits, including four players on defense.

According to the 247 sports composite rankings, Savage is ranked as the 15th-best outside linebacker in the country and No. 250 overall. He is also the 13th-best player out of the state of Maryland.

Here was his accountment today on Twitter:

Savage is an exciting player when you watch his highlights. While I don’t know what he runs in terms of a 40 time, he’s an explosive player. He creates a lot of havoc in the backfield and is solid when it comes to tackling in the open field. He doesn’t necessarily strike me as a viper, but he could definitely be an outside linebacker at Michigan.

At 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, it’s always possible that Savage, who also plays running back could see some time at inside linebacker too. Either way, he need add some quality depth at linebacker and is the second one at the position in this class. The other is three-star inside linebacker Cornell Wheeler. 

Savage is also the second four-star defender in the 2020 class joining defensive back Andre Seldon. It may be really early, but with the addition of Savage, Michigan football now has a top-10 recruiting class so far when it comes to next year and the Wolverines have plenty of other targets in their sights.

In terms of Savage, Michigan football has had its eye on him for a while. He went to a Wolverines satellite camp and a visit paid to him by new defensive assistants Anthony Campanile and Shaun Nua sealed the deal.

Savage also talked to 247 sports about his conversation with head coach Jim Harbaugh telling him that he was going to commit to the Wolverines. The linebacker said the Michigan football head coach was quite pleased. Here’s what he said to 247 sports:

“(Harbaugh) was ecstatic, just really excited. You could hear the joy. You could hear it all. All the other coaches were excited and you could feel it. There was good energy, which is the way I like it because I am an up-tempo, good energy type of dude and they matched it.”

It’s always good to hear that the head coach is excited about an incoming prospect and Savage seems to be a perfect fit for the Wolverines physical style of defense.

More than anything, it’s another good sign for 2020 and after a really solid 2019 class, the Wolverines seem to be moving that momentum forward and that’s a very good thing.