Michigan Football: Wolverines eye receivers with upside in 2021

Michigan football has loaded up on wide receivers in the last two recruiting cycles but it’s a position still in focus for the 2021 class.

It’s always interesting to see how one recruiting class can potentially impact another and for Michigan football, the addition of wide receivers in recent years has left the Wolverines deep and talented at the position.

So what does that mean for 2021? Well, a couple of things.

For one, Michigan football seems to be looking at bigger wideouts in 2021, since the Wolverines haven’t added much size the past two years outside. Cornelius Johnson is 6-foot-3 and has huge potential as a deep threat, but outside of him and four-star Roman Wilson from 2020, U-M has landed smaller, quicker receivers over the past two cycles such as Giles Jackson, Mike Sainristil, A.J. Henning and Eamonn Dennis.

So with depth not really an issue and an abundance of twitchy slot receivers, Michigan is taking a little different approach to 2021 and two examples are Andrel Anthony, an East Lansing product and also Malcolm Johnson Jr. out of Virginia.

Anthony is a name that Michigan football fans should be familiar with as the Wolverines have been recruiting Anthony for quite some time. And just recently, Steve Lorenz of The Michigan Insider said he was going to move Anthony up to being a top target ($).

The 6-foot-2 wideout still has plenty of room to grow, but he’s an explosive athlete, even though right now, he’s only listed as a three-star. Anthony is the 12th-ranked player in the state of Michigan and the No. 76 wide receiver according to the 247 composite rankings.

Yet, he has high upside as does another top Michigan target in Johnson Jr.

While Michigan is leading in crystal balls with Anthony right now, getting a commitment from Johnson Jr., a top-300 prospect and No. 8 player in Virginia won’t be as easy. The four-star receiver has 18 offers including from Alabama, Auburn and Baylor.

Yet, he’s still raw and is also considering a future in track, which makes getting him even more intriguing. Lorenz reported ($) that Gattis was the strongest recruiter for Michigan, along with the nugget on Johnson Jr. and track and that bodes well for the Wolverines.

Gattis has proven himself to be one of Michigan’s top recruiters in a short time period, especially when it comes to receivers and Anthony, as well as Johnson Jr. are two names to keep an eye on.