Michigan Football: Pressure grows to land 4-star Quentin Somerville

Michigan football saw one defensive end target choose Texas A&M, which makes four-star Quentin Somerville even more important for the Wolverines.

Michigan football was hoping it could gain some traction with four-star defensive end Jahzion Harris and the Wolverines were among his most recent top five.

However, it wasn’t enough to get him to commit to Michigan football as Harris announced his commitment to Texas A&M via his Twitter account Tuesday.

Ultimately, that wasn’t really a shock. Despite the fact that Michigan was in Harris’ top five, the Wolverines weren’t considered serious contenders. But what it does reinforce is that Michigan doesn’t have many pass-rushing targets left to turn to.

The good news is that the Wolverines have already made some progress at defensive end with the 2021 class. Just last week, three-star end TJ Guy committed to Michigan football and that was following the commitment of Dominick Giudice back in March.

Both of those players have potential as pass rushers and they can help add depth. But neither is the elite pass rusher that four-star Quentin Somerville is and he’s the kind of recruit Michigan desperately needs in this class.

If you want to compare Michigan to Ohio State, which duh, is the obvious comparison, one of the biggest differences has been the Buckeyes ability to turn out elite edge rushers. The Wolverines have done a good job with guys like Chase Winovich and Josh Uche, but Michigan’s two first-round ends under Harbaugh were Rashan Gary and Taco Charlton.

Both of them were very good players and Gary flashed promise as a rookie last season with two sacks in limited action. But neither was the dominant edge rusher that even Winovich was and looking at the roster now and into the future, those dominant edge rushers are lacking.

The talk that the Wolverines misused the talents of both Gary and Josh Uche, which is something ESPN draft experts opined about during draft coverage, probably doesn’t help.

However, with Somerville, a top-100 prospect, Michigan has it sights set on a guy with all the tools to be an elite pass rusher down the road. Guy is one prospect already with plenty of promise and others like Braiden McGregor, a freshman-to-be offer hope for the future too, but the D-line needs a recruit like Somerville, especially now that Harris is no longer an option.