Michigan Football: Key 2021 recruit chooses Nebraska, what’s next?

Michigan football was hoping to get a commitment from three-star recruit Kamonte Grimes, but he committed to Nebraska instead.

There were rumblings that Kamonte Grimes, a top target of Michigan football at cornerback in the 2021 class, was going to commit over the weekend.

Obviously, there was hope that he would make a pledge to the Wolverines. Unfortunately, the three-star athlete made a different choice, announcing his commitment to Scott Frost and Nebraska, as a wide receiver.

That’s sort of where things get interesting with Grimes.

While Michigan football wanted him as a cornerback, U-M was the only school that recruited him as a defensive back and for his part, Grimes wanted to play offense, so in that regard it makes sense.

Grimes is 6-foot-2, 205 pounds and ranked as the No. 533 player in the 2021 class according to the 247 sports composite rankings.

But he had emerged as a defensive back target for the Wolverines, who sold him on a role similar to that of Jabrill Peppers, who played corner, safety and viper for Michigan.

Yet, Nebraska was pushing really hard for Grimes and that’s something EJ Holland of Rivals even mentioned last Friday and the Huskers vision of Grimes on offense certainly could have helped.

While Holland said ($) it’s a “tough loss” for Michigan, simply due to the staff attention given to Grimes, the bigger question is, where the Wolverines go from here in terms of corner recruiting?

Other Michigan football targets at corner in 2021

I’ll bring up a name I’ve mentioned quite a few times and that’s Maxwell Hairston, a three-star cornerback from West Bloomfield, Michigan, the same school as Donovan Edwards.

Hairston is ranked just 1,467 in the 247 sports composite rankings, but the kid can play. He’s a solid man-cover guy and he can run 4.4.

I always thought he was a better target, in terms of a pure corner than Grimes, which made that recruitment interesting.

Yet, disappointingly, the U-M staff still hasn’t offered Hairston, who is set to make his college decision Monday. All of his crystal ball projections have him going to Kentucky.

Michigan has been in contact with him and a Michigan offer always felt like it would be a game-changer in his recruitment, but at this point, it may be too late.

However, just because Hairston commits today, doesn’t mean the Wolverines won’t offer and make a push. They just need to do it already if they are going to.

Another cornerback to watch in the 2021 recruiting class is Ceyair Wright.

Wright is a top-100 recruit out of California but hasn’t even released a top-five list yet. He wants to make a decision in January, at the All-American Bowl, just like Darion Green-Warren, a Michigan commitment in 2020.

It’s possible the Wolverines could win this late. No one really knows who the favorite is for Wright, but since the corner board is somewhat barren right now, U-M should just go all in.