Michigan Football: Fallback options at DT, corner in 2021 recruiting

The Michigan football program still hasn’t added any defensive tackles and has just one cornerback committed in 2021.

There are still some glaring holes in Michigan football‘s 2021 recruiting class and one of them is at defensive tackle, where the Wolverines don’t have any players committed.

Now, that should change and it could change very soon. One Michigan football target, George Rooks, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive lineman, could be deciding soon.

It’s not clear if Rooks will play defensive tackle or defensive end in college. In my mind, he will do a little of both and will likely end up as a three or five-technique.

Another defensive tackle recruit and one of the top overall targets is Rayshaun Benny, an in-state defensive tackle who is trending to the Wolverines with crystal ball projections.

However, if Michigan isn’t able to land Benny and Rooks or is only able to get one, there is another fallback option and that’s USC commit Jay Toia.

Toia has been committed to USC since June of 2018 but he has been flirting with other programs and Michigan is one of them. Toia is 6-foot-2, 315 pounds and ranked 178th overall in 2021.

Even though Toia is committed he recently told 247 sports ($) he had a new top-five list and Michigan football is included along with USC, UCLA, Utah and Nebraska.

Here’s what he said about U-M:

"“Michigan is telling me I’ll have a chance to step in and compete for playing time as a freshman and I think the depth chart sets up well for me there,” Toia said. “I’ve never been out there before but definitely want to try and visit as soon the dead period ends. I haven’t done a virtual tour with them yet but hopefully, we can schedule that.”"

Benny and Rooks are the top priorities right now, but if things change and Michigan pushes harder with Toia, there could be at least an outside chance of a flip.

Another 2021 corner to watch for Michigan

John Howse IV is a name we haven’t talked about in a while in regards to Michigan, but the Brentwood, Tennessee cornerback is deciding soon and is still hearing from the Wolverines according to 247 sports ($).

Howse is 6-foot-2, 185 pounds and he is ranked the No. 726 overall prospect in the 247 sports composite rankings, as well as the 59th-best cornerback.

According to his interview with 247 sports, Howse is going to visit Nebraska this weekend, although he will not see the staff. He did the same with Boston College and Kansas too.

While the article quotes a source close to Howse saying Michigan has still been in contact, it’s hard to tell how much of a factor the Wolverines are in this recruitment.

There hasn’t been any talk of him taking a dead-period visit to Ann Arbor. If that happened, then I would say there’s a legitimate chance of him joining the 2021 class.

But unless we see something like that soon, it sounds like these other schools are much more involved and while the Wolverines need another cornerback, it doesn’t feel like they are pushing too hard here.