Michigan Football: 3 Takeaways from Jaydon Hood, Colson, commitments

Within the past two days, Michigan football has landed commitments from two four-star linebackers and here three thoughts on the week in recruiting.

It wasn’t that long ago that Michigan football fans were worried that the 2021 recruiting class only had three-star defenders. But over the past two days, that’s changed as the Wolverines have landed commitments from four-star linebackers Jaydon Hood and Junior Colson.

Colson, a four-star outside linebacker out of Tennessee, is one of the top defenders in the 2021 class. He ranks 118th overall according to the 247 sports composite rankings, as well as 83rd overall according to Rivals, which lists him as the No. 3 outside linebacker.

Michigan football was able to beat out in-state Tennessee, which has done really well this cycle, along with a bunch of other SEC schools in order to get him. Soon after Colson announced he was joining the Wolverines, Hood, a four-star inside linebacker, announced he was committing Monday.

He had two predictions to Michigan at the time of that announcement and by Monday morning, he had eight crystal ball projections in favor of the Wolverines and none for anyone else. So when he announced shortly after 4 PM EST that he was choosing U-M, it wasn’t a big shock.

Colson and Hood are the two top-ranked defenders in Michigan’s 2021 class and each fits into an exciting role for the future. For that and some other thoughts on the past week in Wolverines recruiting, here are some takeaways from these commitments and more.

Hood draws comparisons to Devin Bush

With Hood, it’s easy to find similarities with Devin Bush. Both guys are inside linebackers out of the state of Florida and each ranked 11th at the position according to the 247 sports composite rankings.

Bush is 6-foot-1 and Hood is a 6-foot-1 defender. His high school stats will even remind you of Bush as Hood finished last season with 115 tackles, seven sacks, four forced fumbles and two interceptions.

https://twitter.com/JaydonHood_7/status/1188336283082469376

Obviously, you can’t figure out everything you need to know about a kid from watching highlights, but Hood is explosive, instinctive and hard-hitting.

When he played at Michigan, Bush was so effective because he was a true three-down linebacker. He could cover, play the run and blitz to pressure the quarterback.

Cameron McGrone, who eventually took over as the starter last season showed some of those same traits and Hood has those abilities too. He’s ranked 298th overall in 2021, which is higher than Bush, who was outside the top 300 back when he was a recruit, but it’s easy to see why Don Brown and the staff compared him to Bush, which seemed to be a key selling point.

The next viper?

Much like Hood will remind Michigan football fans of Devin Bush, Junior Colson should spark memories of another former Wolverine great and that’s Jabrill Peppers.

If you remember, back in 2016, Peppers became the first player Brown used at the newly created viper position. He excelled there and was a Heisman finalist before getting drafted in the first round of the NFL draft.

Khaleke Hudson took over the position and was another former safety who dropped down into the box to play the viper. But Colson, formerly a wide receiver, could also play in that role, however, he would give the Wolverines a much bigger version than they have had previously.

Some of that might be tried out this season with Michael Barrett, who is more of a traditional linebacker than either Peppers or Hudson. Yet, Michigan has never had the size and speed combo of Colson at the position, which could have a game-changing impact.

Last season, Colson, who runs a 4.5 in the 40 according to his high school coach, also had 12 sacks, two interceptions and a bunch of tackles. He played inside linebacker, as well as outside and at Michigan, under Brown, the possibilites are endless.

After a few years in Ann Arbor, Colson could wind up as a early-round NFL draft choice.

Jamari Buddn fallout

With the addition of Hood, as well as other inside linebackers this cycle such as Casey Phinney and Tyler McLaurin, Michigan football isn’t going to have room for Jamari Buddin, which is reportedly something the Wolverines broached with him not long ago.

According to Sam Webb who was talking on The Michigan Insider Podcast, the Wolverines pressed Buddin to see if he was ready to commit. He wasn’t and wanted to keep open his recruitment, which essentially led the Michigan moving on and focusing on others.

However, this whole thing has led to more talk of bad blood between Michigan and Belleville. an in-state school, which isn’t a good thing for down the road.

There was hope getting Buddin would help with the situation and Buddin’s dad even came on the show and said that it nothing to do with Buddin not ending up with U-M.

Last week, Buddin said Michigan was no longer recruiting him and now we have a better understanding of what actually happened. Michigan ended up with Hood and McLaurin, while Buddin will likely end up at Penn State or Michigan State.