Michigan Football: Analyzing sea change in Xavier Worthy’s recruitment

There was a massive change in expert predictions for one key recruiting target in 2021, Xavier Worthy, and we break it down here.

When all the expert predictions started flooding in, projecting four-star wide receiver Xavier Worthy to Oregon, it felt like a lost recruiting battle for Michigan football.

Yet, the Wolverines kept pushing, along with other schools and before Worthy was set to make his announcement, which many expected to be Oregon, he announced he was delaying his decision.

Now, we know when that will be. It’s July 10th according to Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider ($), who confirmed the date with Worthy. Webb also changed his crystal ball pick from Oregon to Michigan, joining a host of others including Brandon Huffman and Steve Wiltfong.

The Wolverines now own 62 percent of Worthy’s crystal ball projections, while the other 38 percent are still with Oregon. For the record, Worthy told Webb that it was open among the 20 schools that offered him.

That doesn’t necessarily sound like someone who has made a final decision. It does sound like there could be a leader and he’s asking for everyone’s best pitch before making the final call.

If that’s the case, Michigan should feel good about its chances, but U-M also isn’t taking anything for granted. The Wolverines have gotten to this point because according to EJ Holland of Rivals ($), they have simply been recruiting Worthy harder. At least as hard as any other program.

Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis has been particularly active and has sold Worthy on being used in a similar fashion to Giles Jackson. On that same note, Jackson has actually been a big help in this recruitment. He’s from California, just like Worthy and the two are very similar players and have grown close.

If Michigan is able to land Worthy, who will decide one week from today, it would be a massive victory. He’s ranked 175th in the 247 composite rankings but has been flying up the rankings. 247 actually has him listed 95th overall in 2021 and 11th among wideouts.

And Worthy has legit speed and I mean legit, running the 100-meter in 10.55 as a sophomore. He’s 6-foot-1, 160 pounds, so he has more size than Giles and the kid from Fresno is compared by 247 to Desean Jackson, another kid Michigan nearly landed back in the day.

Another notable pick is that Holland also flipped his projection ($) from Oregon to Michigan. One note of caution is that of the six 247 experts to put in picks for Michigan, their confidence level averaged just a 5.3 on a scale of 1-10.

A number of SEC teams are pushing hard for Worthy, such as Alabama, Georgia, Auburn and LSU, along with Oregon and we all know a lot can happen in a week. Just last week, Michigan seemed like a runner-up here and now, the Wolverines are in the pole position again.

Whether or not they can finish, remains to be seen, but if they do, Worthy would be a major addition to the 2021 class.