Michigan Football: Wolverines the favorite for Kamonte Grimes?

Kamonte Grimes dropped his top five list Friday and Michigan football made the cut. Are the Wolverines the favorite?

You can’t judge every prospect by their recruiting ranking and one of the more exciting targets Michigan football is still after in the 2021 cycle is three-star athlete Kamonte Grimes.

Michigan football already has 19 players committed as part of its 2021 class, but only two of those players are defensive backs, Ja’Den McBurrows and safety Rod Moore. The Wolverines are obviously in on other defensive backs, namely safety Daymon David, but Grimes, a kid who wants to play offense, has emerged as a prime target.

On Friday, Grimes released his top five which included the Wolverines, Nebraska, Kentucky, Maryland and Miami. Grimes also reported on Twitter he’s up to 6-foot-3, 210 pounds.

Grimes, who is ranked by 247 sports as the 28th-best athlete in the 2021 class, as well as 515th overall in the 247 composite rankings, told 247 sports that he wants to play wide receiver and that right now, Michigan is the only school pushing for him as a defensive back.

While the Wolverines haven’t throw out the ability to play offense yet, they have sold Grimes on the role that Jabrill Peppers played on Michigan’s defense, which was corner, safety and eventually linebacker (viper). And that sales pitch appears to be working.

EJ Holland of Rivals ($), who projected Grimes to Michigan football earlier this week, said Grimes is a priority at cornerback for the Wolverines. He also said Miami was the school to watch in this battle if the Canes start pushing hard for the three-star from Naples, Miami’s backyard.

As I said, there are a number of other corner prospects out there, including some in the state who could become takes after a senior evaluation if Michigan still has a need. However, Grimes has a unique blend of size and speed and it’d be fun to see what the Wolverines could do with him.

Wide receiver update

Now that Christian Dixon is in the fold for Michigan in 2021, the question is how many receivers will the Wolverines end up taking? I could see them going anywhere from two to four depending on how the board shakes out at other spots. Three seems like a solid number.

One of those guys could potentially be Xavier Worthy, who would be a dream fit in the speed-in-space offense of Josh Gattis. He was expected to choose Oregon but delayed his decision, which could be a good sign for U-M. It also gives the numerous SEC schools a better chance too.

Outside of Worthy, the other likely candidate to commit at wide receiver is Jayden Thomas, a four-star receiver who is also getting strong interest from Notre Dame, among others including Georiga, which offered the in-state wideout just last month.

Yet, Thomas is a player that’s set on making a decision after taking visits. He told 247 sports ($) he has been communicating with Gattis frequently and wants to visit, possibly along with 2022 quarterback target MJ Morris.

“I love them,” Thomas said. “I really like Coach Gattis and the relationship we have established.”

Thomas is 6-foot-1 and ranks 219th in the 247 composite rankings. As of right now, he has no crystal ball projections or Futurecast picks from Rivals, which ranks him 131st overall.