Michigan Football: 3 Thoughts on Donovan Edwards, Rocco Spindler

Michigan football has put together a strong 2021 recruiting class to this point, but needs two more four-stars, Rocco Spindler and Donovan Edwards.

Ohio State is on another level right now when it comes to recruiting, but outside of the Buckeyes, no team in the Big Ten is recruiting as well as Michigan football is right now.

Over the last three months, late March and through May, Michigan football has picked up 13 commitments. Some of those recruits have been three-star prospects such as Rod Moore and Markus Allen, who some believe should be rated as four-star recruits, but still, the Wolverines have picked up five new four-star commitments according to the 247 sports composite.

With a five-star quarterback, some solid offensive lineman and a nice run recently on defense, Michigan has been doing some work. However, there are still some top players within reach and two of them, Rocco Spindler and Donovan Edwards, high-ranking four stars, are in state.

The Wolverines have been in on both of these guys for a long time and even though they were seen as the favorites for each at one time or another, things are up in the air with both.

Spindler is 44th overall in the 2021 class according to the 247 sports composite rankings and the No. 2 guard. Edwards is ranked even higher at 37th overall in the composite and 22nd in 247 sports own rankings.

As Scott Bell pointed out recently Michigan football has six of the top-10 commits in the Big Ten East outside of Ohio State and if Edwards and Spindler came aboard, the class would be even better.

Whether Spindler and Edwards actually commit is another story and here are some thoughts on each recruitment, as well as some predictions at the end.

First up, Rocco.

Can Michigan win the battle for Rocco?

Much like the recruitment of Braiden McGregor in the 2020 recruiting class, this has been a Michigan-Notre Dame battle for quite some time. The Wolverines may have been in the lead at one point, but then things seemed to shift back to Notre Dame, there was even a strange chance meeting between Spindler and Lou Holtz.

But over time, Michigan has been consistent. Spindler has been a clear priority throughout this class, with coaches contacting him on a daily basis via the Michigan Insider Podcast. What’s more is that on the Michigan Insider recruiting podcast, Steve Lorenz also talked about how Spindler’s father said he always thought he would be an offensive lineman at Michigan.

"“Allen (Trieu) gave me an interesting point… I had him on Zach and I’s podcast about a month or so ago but brought up the idea that his dad had always thought of Rocco playing offensive line for the University of Michigan one day. That’s kind of the been the one thing in the back of my mind after he mentioned that. It made me think that this still might end up going Michigan’s way.”"

Who knows if that counts for anything but it’s something. Tom Loy of Irish Illustrated ($) still believes that Notre Dame is in the lead. Of the top experts who have placed crystal ball predictions for 247 sports, two are for Michigan and two for Notre Dame. The difference is that the two Michigan picks have a combined confidence of six compared to 14 of the Irish (1-10 scale, 10 is highest).

However, it just so happens that Loy and the same expert projecting Spindler to Notre Dame, predicted the same from McGregor. This is different, just saying, they could be wrong again.

Donovan Edwards

As important as Spindler would be, the Wolverines are in very good position for another top-100 guard, Drew Kendall, so there is at least a solid consolation prize. However, when it comes to Edwards, a four-star running back, that doesn’t really exist.

Michigan obviously has other offers out there and other backs they have interest in, but no one is quite like Edwards and of all the offensive skill players the Wolverines have a shot at getting, he’s by far the best. That’s outside of McCarthy, the five-star QB of course, but those two together, really could help close the gap on Ohio State.

And speaking of Loy, he placed a crystal ball for Edwards not long ago in favor of Michigan, although it had a confidence level of just two. Currently, all of Edwards’ projections ($) have him going to Michigan, but Georgia, Oklahoma and Michigan State are contenders too.

Oklahoma is worrisome because he wants to play for a winner. The Sooners and Bulldogs have been to the playoff before, so that could be a factor. Lincoln Riley is also a dynamic head coach and it feels like it’s him vs Harbaugh for Edwards.

Yet, there seems to be a strong relationship between Edwards and Harbaugh, so there are reasons to be optimistic. Will it lead to a commitment?

Here are my predictions.

Predictions for Spindler and Edwards

In either case, I don’t have any insider info or anything of the sort. There has been a lot of reporting about both recruitments. When it comes to Spindler, I believe it’s a 50/50 battle between Michigan and Notre Dame.

The Irish may be in the lead, but if so, it’s not by much. If Spindler wants to wait and take more visits, that could also be in Michigan’s favor. This recruitment reminds me a lot of McGregor, who ultimately chose Michigan over Notre Dame.

Notre Dame people were confident then too. There is some confidence on both sides. If Rocco committed today, I don’t know that it would be Michigan, but when he finally makes his call, I think just have a feeling he will go with the Wolverines.

It might sound crazy, but I do think Michigan will get Edwards. I’m more confident in that than Spindler and here’s why: Edwards could be the missing piece for the Wolverines.

At Georgia or Oklahoma, he could be another talented player helping them reach the playoff or whatever, but unless he leads those programs to a national title, he won’t be the hero he could be at Michigan. If he was able to lead U-M past Ohio State, to a Big Ten title, he’d be a legend.

I just think he will see that opening to become a star and build something special. The proximity and the fact that his high school coach was a former Michigan player doesn’t hurt, nor does the fact that Ohio State has taken two running backs already and doesn’t really seem to be in the mix.

Michigan State is making a charge, but Edwards said he wanted to come as a part of a strong recruiting class and while the Spartans aren’t doing bad in the first cycle under Mel Tucker, Michigan is seventh or better in the Rivals and 247 rankings. MSU is 39th.

Predictions are always sure to go wrong in recruiting and in this case, there are lots of unknown. At the very least, I think Michigan finds a way to get one out of two.