Michigan Football: Wolverines still in the hunt for Victory Vaka
Michigan football got some good news from Victory Vaka Saturday as the four-star defensive tackle included the Wolverines in his top five.
There hasn’t been a lot of good news for Michigan football fans this week as the spring football game and spring practices were cancelled, as well as recruiting visits.
But that doesn’t mean that recruiting has come to a halt. A lot of this stuff is done on social media and one of Michigan football’s top targets for the 2021 class, Victory Vaka, a four-star defensive tackle, released his top five Saturday and the Wolverines were among the contenders.
Oregon, Texas A&M, Florida and Florida State were the other teams listed. Vaka is supposed to make his decision in December according to his 247 sports profile.
https://twitter.com/victoryvaka/status/1238908782593236993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Eembeddedtimeline&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F247sports.com%2FPlayer%2FVictory-Vaka-46080330%2F
That same profile shows that Vaka is set to take an official visit with Michigan football in June. That’s one reason for optimism. Another is that Vaka has developed a strong relationship with defensive line coach Shaun Nua, who was once at Arizona State.
Vaka is out of West Lake, California and he is the No. 200 player overall according to the 247 sports composite rankings. He is listed as the 13th-best defensive tackle and the No. 20 player in the state of California.
What makes him appealing to the Wolverines is the 6-foot-3, 325-pound frame that he possesses. Michigan football learned or should have learned last season that it needs more pluggers in the middle of the defense.
There aren’t as many of these old-school run stuffers as their used to be, at least it seems that way and getting a guy like Vaka would be huge. Chris Hinton and Mazi Smith, two rising sophomores are also in that mode and each is around the 300-pound range.
But Vaka feels like a true nose tackle and his scouting profile from 247 sports has this to say:
"Has a big frame. Needs to continue to show an improving motor, often getting by with sheer size. Shows a quick first step and plays with great leverage and technique. Does tremendous job shedding blocks and getting into the backfield. Plugs gaps and can take on multiple blockers. Projects as multi-year Power 5 starter and a third-day NFL draft selection."
It will be interesting to watch this play out, but the next step is getting him in for a visit and since it’s not until this summer, it should still work out.