Michigan Football: Wolverines eye Iowa commit, more on O-line numbers

Michigan football continues to push for offensive lineman like crazy and contacted four-star tackle David Davidkov, a current Iowa commit recently.

As a Michigan football fan, if you have found yourself asking recently, how many offensive lineman are the Wolverines going to take in the 2021 recruiting class? You probably aren’t alone.

It’s a question that just about everyone following Michigan football recruiting this cycle has been wondering. The Wolverines already have four offensive line commitments, as Giovanni El-Hadi, Greg Crippen, Raheem Anderson and Tristan Bounds have all pledged.

The Wolverines are also in a very strong position with four-star guard Drew Kendall and four-star guard from the state of Michigan Rocco Spindler. However, that didn’t stop them from getting in touch with four-star offensive tackle David Davidkov, who is currently committed to Iowa.

Davidkov’s was an interesting recruitment. He’s ranked 137th in the 247 composite rankings for 2021 but 56th in the 247 specific rankings. The 6-foot-6 offensive tackle was at one time thought to be a Michigan lean, but Iowa took control and grabbed the commitment.

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Yet, according to Steve Lorenz of The Michigan Insider ($), the Wolverines did reach out to Davidkov this week, who reportedly told them he was still 100 percent Iowa. It was worth a shot because the kid is an elite offensive tackle.

But it does make you wonder, again, how many offensive lineman can this class take? Because Kendall seems close to committing, telling EJ Holland of Rivals ($) he could decide in June or July. Then, Spindler’s recruitment seems to be in a good spot, so what if you win both of those and then flip Davidkov?

There are worse things in the world than taking 4-5 top-100 caliber offensive lineman, but if the class was 26 or even pushed to 27, seven commitments is nearly 25 percent. That’s a big chunk and the Wolverines have also been pushing for three-star tackle Thomas Cole too and wouldn’t mind adding him as a commitment either.

But, Kendall did drop a tidbit in his interview with Holland ($) that Michigan was going to take six and that he was told by Warinner, if Kendall wasn’t among the first six, he might not have a spot, which is stunning since Rivals does list him as the 65th overall player in 2021.

"“He said as long as there aren’t six people committed on the offensive line, I’ll have a spot,” Kendall said. “He said he’ll go up to six and take me. But if that fifth comes, he’s going to have to let me know there is one spot left. It’s kind of a numbers game.”"

That’s interesting insight into the whole thing and it definitely makes you feel like a commitment from Kendall could be coming soon.

Yet, seeing as Cole and Spindler are the two most likely guys to commit next as offensive lineman, Kendall is probably safe. Spindler recently said he wants to take all five of his official visits in the fall, so his decision is months away. Cole has also talked ($) about taking visits before deciding.

And since visits aren’t likely to happen until probably September or so, Kendall should be just fine as long as he sticks to his June or July timeline.