Michigan Football: Wolverines have momentum with A.J. Henning

Michigan football has picked up a slew of commitments recently and after landing Braiden McGregor Friday night, next up on the list is A.J. Henning.

When it comes to recruiting, Michigan football has been on a roll lately, getting some critical commitments recently, including four-star defensive end Braiden McGregor.

McGregor was just the latest in a number of recruiting wins for the Wolverines. The other recent gets include 2021 quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who could be the best quarterback Jim Harbaugh has recruited to the Michigan football program.

On top of that, the Wolverines also landed four-star offensive tackle Zak Zinter May 16th and on Thursday of this week, UM got four-star linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green.

Getting McGregor, one of the top players in the state of Michigan was the cherry on top. Looking at this video, you can see just how excited Harbaugh, defensive line coach Shaun Nua and the rest of the staff gets when the Port Huron product says he is staying home.

Yet, as good as that was, more good news could be on the way for Michigan football and it concerns another top target in 2020, which is four-star wide receiver, A.J. Henning.

Michigan has been in on Henning for a long time, but after Notre Dame seemed like a strong favorite, the Wolverines have picked up steam of late. The addition of offensive coordinator Josh Gattis has made a difference and then the commitment of McCarthy, who is from Illinois like Henning, also seemed to sway the 15th-best wideout in the 2020 class.

McCarthy and Henning live about 30 miles apart from each other and appear to be close.

The 5-foot-10 speedster from Frankfurt, Illinois, who is the top prospect from the state in 2020, would be a dynamic addition to the program and would be a perfect fit for Gattis speed-in-space philosophy.

While Notre Dame had momentum early, things have shifted since McCarthy’s commitment and some key experts have taken notice. Steve Wiltfong of 247 sports put in a crystal ball back on May 12th and Saturday, Allen Trieu, who offered some key tidbits in this piece ($), predicted Henning to Michigan as well.

One thing that should help is that Gattis and Sherrone Moore, two of Michigan’s top recruiters are the primary guys in pursuit. The fact that UM is loaded with quarterbacks for the future, having guys like Dylan McCaffrey, Joe Milton and Cade McNamara ready to take over for Shea Patterson should also be in the Wolverines favor.

Henning can also expect to catch passes from McCarthy if he goes to Michigan. Even though McCarthy is one year behind, he feels like the kind of quarterback that gets on the field sooner rather than later.

Henning has a visit scheduled next month to Ann Arbor and who knows, maybe something will happen then. Even though Notre Dame still has the majority of his crystal balls, the momentum appears to be with Michigan and hopefully, in the end, that leads to another critical commitment.