Michigan Football: 5 Thoughts so far on Wolverines 2021 recruiting

Michigan football is putting together a solid 2021 recruiting class and as we approach the closing stretch, here are five thoughts so far.

The 2021 recruiting class has been an interesting one for Michigan football. At times, fans have been super stoked and at other points, there has been lots of concern.

Last spring, Michigan football landed huge commitments from five-star quarterback J.J. McCarthy and four-star offensive tackle Giovanni El-Hadi. And for nearly a year, those were the only two commitments as part of the Wolverines’ 2021 recruiting class.

But since late March, when three-star defensive end Dominick Giudice committed to the Wolverines, soon after he was offered, Michigan football has reeled in 15 verbal commitments.

Six of those commitments have come from four-star prospects and those guys are LB’s Junior Colson and Jaydon Hood, defensive end Kechaun Bennett, offensive lineman Greg Crippen and Raheem Anderson, as well as tight end Louis Hansen. All of those guys ranked inside the top 300 of the 247 composite rankings, outside of Bennett, who is No. 329.

The Wolverines also landed two defenders who are three stars but ranked in the top 500 in safety Rod Moore and linebacker Tyler McLaurin. U-M has also landed three-star wideout Markus Allen, three-star tackle Tristan Bounds, three-star corner Ja’Den McBurrows, three-star defensive end TJ Guy, three-star linebacker Casey Phinney, and also three-star punter Tommy Doman, who is the No. 1 punter in the country for what it’s worth.

Recently, Bud Elliot of 247 sports put together his blue-chip ratio for 2020 and Michigan is one of the teams with enough talent to win a national title in that metric. It measures what percentage of your recruits are five and four-star talents or “Blue Chips.”

Elliot contends you need at least 50 percent over a four-year period to have the talent required to compete and win for a national championship. According to Maize and Brew, Michigan has been around 60 percent during the Harbaugh era.

I bring this up, because with 17 commits already in 2021, the so-called blue-chip ratio seems like a great place to start in this breakdown of this year’s recruiting class.