Michigan Football: Highly-ranked 2021 DT announces official visit

Michigan football could certainly use some reinforcements at defensive tackle in 2021 and one of the top-ranked defensive tackles has announced a U-M visit.

As Michigan football turns its attention towards the 2021 recruiting class, one position that sticks out as a need is at defensive tackle.

That’s probably not a big surprise or a big shock to anyone that watched Michigan football get dominated in the trenches by Ohio State, Wisconsin and Alabama.

The Wolverines held up well against the run games of Iowa, Army, Notre Dame and even Penn State, however, there’s no question that even the staff looks at defensive tackle as a need, just look at the interest in junior college players or the transfer portal as an indication.

That doesn’t mean that Michigan football doesn’t have players, it does. Carlo Kemp is solid and Michael Dwumfour is too. Chris Hinton and Mazi Smith each have bright futures but the other top defensive tackles will be graduated so more help will be needed.

And in what should be music to the ears of Michigan fans, one of the best defensive tackles in the 2021 class is going to be paying a visit to Ann Arbor this summer.

Victory Vaka, a four-star defensive tackle from California, that is seen as a guy that has NFL potential, as well as an ability to contribute early on in his career. In addition to Michigan showing strong interest, Oregon and LSU are among the other top contenders for the 6-foot-3, 315-pound beast.

He’s not even a senior in high school yet and he would already be essentially the Wolverines biggest defensive tackle. He’s ranked 197th overall in the 247 composite rankings and also listed as the No. 14 defensive tackle.

His primary recruiter is defensive line coach Shaun Nua, which is a positive for the Wolverines. Ever since his hire, he has been a great recruiter, playing a key role in getting guys like Braiden McGregor and others.

One school of thought behind his hire was that he would be able to help Michigan have a better shot at more players out West and that seems to be happening. The Wolverines have a national name of course, and that gives them a chance with lots of players, but landing Vaka would be a huge feather in the cap of Nua.

He could also be part of the Wolverines re-fortifying their defensive front to take on the likes of Ohio State and Wisconsin in the Big Ten.