Michigan Football: Key 2021 target projected to Wolverines
Michigan football has some critical targets left on its recruiting board for 2021 including four-star defensive end Quintin Somerville.
Michigan football and defensive line coach Shaun Nua have invested a lot of time in trying to land four-star defensive end Quintin Somerville and it appears to be working.
Somerville, who is among the most important targets left for the Wolverines in 2021 due to his pass-rushing ability, was given a crystal ball pick for the Wolverines from 247 sports’ recruiting expert Blair Angelo.
Angelo is the Mountain Region recruiting specialist for 247 sports and in this cycle, he’s 19 for 19, so that’s something Michigan football fans can feel good about. In some message board responses about his selection, Angelo indicated U-M was in the driver’s seat ($), but that Somerville was intent on taking some visits before committing.
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Somerville is listed at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds and he’s ranked in the 247 sports composite rankings as the 102nd overall player in the 2021 class, as well as the No. 9 strong-side defensive end.
While Michigan football hasn’t had a huge recruiting presence in Arizona, the Wolverines have improved that in recent years and the addition of Nua as defensive line coach has certainly helped.
Nua actually had a prior relationship with Somerville, thanks to his time at Arizona State and when Nua arrived as an assistant at Michigan, Somerville quickly got an offer from the Wolverines.
Now, that investment is starting to pay dividends. Oklahoma also owns a crystal ball for Somerville, but that was over a year ago and the Sooners don’t really seem to be that involved although plenty of teams are pushing for Somerville, including Arizona State, Florida State, Utah and Georgia.
Last season, the Scottsdale prospect notched 75 tackles, 29 tackles for loss and nine sacks. Much like Braiden McGregor, who signed with Michigan during the 2020 cycle, Somerville is a versatile defensive lineman who moves all over the place.
In his highlights, you will see him as a traditional 4-3 defensive end, but he will also line up inside as a three-technique and an edge rusher. Somerville is different than McGregor in that he isn’t super tall at 6-foot-3, however, he has long arms and is explosive off the line.
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He’s sort of an interesting blend of Josh Uche and someone like Taco Charlton. Somerville would be a great fit in Don Brown’s defense and his pass-rush skills are needed in a class that is short on defensive playmakers right now.