Michigan Football: Latest on Drew Kendall and another O-line target

Michigan football has spoken with 4-star recruit Drew Kendall multiple times this week as the Wolverines try to get him to commit.

The last few days haven’t brought about much good news for Michigan football fans. First, there was the decision by Rocco Spindler to commit to Notre Dame over the weekend.

And then, as if that didn’t sting, the real blow came on Monday and Tuesday, when word leaked out that the fall season in the Big Ten could be canceled. Then on Tuesday, the call finally came.

The Big Ten is talking about a spring season, but that’s not that realistic. Meanwhile, three other Power-5 conferences, the SEC, ACC and Big 12 all plan to play.

I’ll have more on how this all could impact recruiting later, but first, Michigan football has continued to push hard with 4-star offensive guard Drew Kendall.

Kendall is ranked as the No. 8 guard in the 247 sports composite rankings, as well as the 126th overall prospect. Rivals has him listed as the No. 4 guard prospect and a top-100 recruit.

Kendall is 6-foot-4 and close to 260 pounds. He has been trending to Michigan since about April, but ultimately, didn’t want to be part of an interior offensive line class of four players.

So the decision by Spindler to commit to Notre Dame helped the Wolverines. If Spindler had come, Kendall likely would have gone elsewhere.

But now, the Wolverines are trying to close with Kendall again.

According to EJ Holland of Rivals ($), Ed Warinner spoke to Kendall and his family on Sunday and again Tuesday night. Holland reported that the conversation went “very well” and lasted for about 30 minutes.

With Kendall, the bottom line is that he’s been on commitment watch since around late May. He kept pointing to a July and then August timeline. So a decision should come very soon and unless close to 20 experts are wrong, it will be for U-M.

Michigan football reaches out to another 2021 OL

The Wolverines are definitely all in on Kendall and they have been for some time. But he has had chances to commit before and hasn’t. Maybe it was all Spindler and soon, we will find out.

But just in case things don’t go Michigan’s way in that recruitment, the Wolverines have kept in touch with another four-star offensive guard and that’s Noah Josey.

Josey is from Brentwood, Tennessee, which might sound familiar, because that’s where Junior Colson, a Michigan commit in 2021 is from. However, the two play at different schools.

U-M has recruited Josey for a while and hosted him for the Iowa game last fall. According to Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider ($), Josey has renewed interest in the Wolverines and has been speaking with Warinner.

Josey is 6-foot-5, 280 pounds and is the 19th-ranked guard in the 247 composite rankings. He’s 326th overall. Both of his crystal ball projections are with Georgia right now, including one from Webb at a confidence level of six.

Yet, Josey told Webb he wanted to take visits, which could mean a decision as late as February, which is why it sort of makes sense for Michigan to get involved again.

If Kendall finally pledges, then I wouldn’t expect U-M to push too hard. But if Kendall goes the other way, the Wolverines will have another option on the O-line if they choose to pursue it.