Michigan football: 3 Huge in-state recruiting battles for Wolverines

No. 1

I remember playing football and hearing the play call moments before breaking the huddle. There isn’t any critical thinking going on; it was all routes or blocks or whatever else. But there were those moments when you start walking to the line and realize who’s lined up opposite you. When it was someone like the massive, quick, and incredibly strong  Damon Payne, I knew nothing was going to go as planned.

Payne is No. 1 in-state, the No. 3 DT, and 27th overall with five-stars and a 9854 composite. He’s 6-foot-3.5 and weighs-in at 297-pounds. He’s a beast.

Here’s Allen Trieu’s evaluation:

"Big-framed kid, and has filled out a lot. Looks like a college-ready player despite how young he is. Naturally gifted athlete who moves around better than the vast majority of kids his size. Strong, powerful kid who can drive blockers back into the backfield. Is improving his technique. Has a good push-pull move and a solid rip, but is still adding more hand technique and other moves to his arsenal. He is also a very good offensive lineman and some schools may look at him on that side of the ball. Big enough to play nose, athletic enough to play a three-tech or maybe even an end in some schemes, he has a chance to be an early contributor at the high-major level if he keeps progressing at this rate."

ESPN has him at second in Michigan, sixth positionally, and 59th nationally. Rivals is a little closer to 247 sports and has Payne at No. 1 in-state, third positionally, and 29th nationally.

Where will he go? It’s anyone’s guess.

50% of his crystal balls are undecided, and there are zero Futurecast predictions on Rivals. Ohio State is/was pushing hard, and Michigan is doing its part. Both schools landed in his top ten, along with Penn State, Oklahoma, Alabama, USC, UK, Oregon, and LSU.

UM did have a geographical advantage as Payne attends Belleville High School, a 22-minute drive away from The Big House, but that’s gone out the window with the whole, you know, pandemic thing that’s caused all Michigan residents, and many across the world, shelter-in-place.

So as of now, where Payne will continue to dominate in the trenches is up in the air.