Michigan Football: Why U-M is so high on 3-star commit Markus Allen

Michigan football landed a commitment from 3-star wideout Markus Allen Tuesday and here’s why the Wolverines are so high on the Ohio 2021 prospect.

Michigan football continued to pick up momentum on the recruiting trail and Tuesday night, the Wolverines added another commitment to the 2021 class in wide receiver Markus Allen.

The fact that Allen chose Michigan football wasn’t a big shock. He had been trending with the Wolverines for a while and U-M held all of his crystal ball projections.

But the wideout from the state of Ohio, officially announced his choice Tuesday and he wound up committing to the Wolverines and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis.

Allen may not be a five-star recruit or even a four-star receiver at this point, but if you watch his highlights, you will see why Gattis and the Wolverines were after him.

The 6-foot-2 receiver is ranked as the 494th prospect overall according to the 247 sports composite rankings and in terms of wide receivers, he is No. 83 in the country.

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But as we have learned in the past, recruiting rankings are fluid, especially when it comes to lower three-star prospects. And when 247 sports and other outlets update their rankings, it wouldn’t be shocking at all if Allen moved significantly.

I’m not saying he’s going to become a top-100 recruit over night or anything, but Michigan has reason to be high on his abilities and as the Wolverines searched for a bigger target that would fit the speed-in-space offense, Allen is an ideal fit.

Player comparisons are the all the rage nowadays and I’ve been saying for some time now that Allen reminds me of the old Green Bay Packers receiver James Jones. Allen, who is from Northmont High School in Clayton, Ohio doesn’t wow you with his speed or his size, he just makes plays.

Over and over again, you see him go up and get 50/50 balls in his highlights. He has great hands and really good instincts for finding the ball and being able to make the catch when it’s in the air.

You can have all the size and speed in the world, but if you don’t have the ability to make a contested catch, it won’t matter.

That won’t be an issue with Allen, who is another prospect that will outplay his recruiting ranking with the Wolverines.