Michigan Football misses out on 2020 OL James Pogorelc

Michigan football missed out on one of its only remaining targets for the 2020 recruiting class and here is a look at what the next steps might be.

While Michigan football doesn’t have much going on with the 2020 recruiting class at this point, one of the few remaining targets and possibly the only real one that mattered, offensive lineman James Pogorelc committed to Stanford Thursday.

Pogorelc is a really solid prospect that Michigan started recruiting sort of late in the process. The Wolverines added a slew of offensive lineman this year but three is a little low compared to most years, so there was a push to add another body and some depth.

Pogorelc visited Michigan back in December and it seemed like there was a positive vibe there. However, Stanford was always the favorite and his visit with the Cardinal last week on Jan. 24 wrapped it up. The three-star according to the 247 sports composite rankings and four-star in the 247 specific rankings, announced his decision on Twitter Thursday.

Pogorelc is from Virginia and so the Cavaliers were also a top contender and got a visit recently too from the offensive tackle that ranked eighth in the state and 29th in the country at his position.

In the composite rankings, he was 378th, but according to 247, he is a four-star and actually checks in at 247th overall.

Ultimately, missing out on him isn’t going to be a massive blow or anything to the Wolverines recruiting wise. However, it would have been nice to land the 6-foot-7 tackle that seems like he has a lot of potential.

What this means is that Michigan football will likely stay interested in the transfer market. On both sides of the ball, the Wolverines have expressed some interest in graduate transfers and that will be something to monitor in the next few weeks.

There does seem to be an acknowledgement that depth on the offensive and defensive lines isn’t quite satisfactory, so an addition is very possible. In the long run, though, the 2021 class boast a bunch of talent in those areas and that’s where the focus will continue to be.