Michigan Football: Should Wolverines worry about recruits flipping?

Not surprisingly, some SEC and Big 12 schools are trying to flip a top Michigan football recruit in 2021. Will others be targeted?

There is plenty of reason for Michigan football and other programs to be worried about recruits flipping their commitments in the 2021 cycle.

It was already a concern before the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences decided to postpone football to the spring. Now, the SEC, ACC and Big 12 could have another advantage.

Yet, even under the normal circumstances, programs would be trying to flip Junior Colson, who is the Wolverines top defensive recruit in 2021 and a player being recruited still by LSU and Oklahoma, as well as Tennessee.

Colson who is ranked 115th overall by the 247 sports composite rankings, as well as the No. 8 outside linebacker, is the No. 2 player in the state of Tennessee. He’s out of Brentwood and that’s why the push by Vols shouldn’t be surprising.

Steve Lorenz of the Michigan Insider ($) reported that teams mentioned above were actively trying to flip Colson, who the Wolverines view as an outside linebacker/viper.

Lorenz quotes fellow 247 sports reporter Clint Brewster, who said Colson was up to 227 pounds and moves like a defensive back. The 6-foot-2 defender registered 175 tackles last season, 30 tackles for loss and 14 sacks.

With those numbers and that athleticism, it’s easy to see why programs would want to flip Colson. At No. 115 in the 247 composite, he’s being underrated.

But he has seemed firm on his commitment since announcing back in May, so I honestly wouldn’t worry about it too much. At least there aren’t any signs that it should be a concern.

Should Michigan football worry about other flips?

Players flipping is always a concern in recruiting but is probably a bigger issue in this recruiting cycle because of the lack of visits.

Two Michigan football commits that come to mind are Jaydon Hood and Ja’Den McBurrows. They are each from Fort Lauderdale and both committed verbally without being able to visit.

That doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to flip, but it could make them more open to it, especially if they ended up taking visits elsewhere.

Hood is ranked No. 297 is the 247 composite rankings and he’s only a three-star according to Rivals, but he’s vastly underrated and it wouldn’t be surprising if some SEC schools came after him and tried to get him to flip.

If, say, Alabama or LSU made a push for him, then I’d start to worry. Right now, just like with Colson, there doesn’t seem to be any sign of wavering. None with McBurrows either.

It seems like most Michigan football recruits are talking about enrolling early, which leads one to think they are pretty committed to the school.

We’ll see what happens with Hood and Colson. Those are the two I’ve been worried about the most in the past few months. So far so good — let’s see if it stays that way.