Michigan Football: Top 2022 targets want to visit, one will unoffically

Michigan football will host a top target in 2022 for an unofficial visit this weekend, plus more on a key recruit in the state of Illinois.

In the past few years, Michigan football has done really well recruiting in the state of Illinois and in the 2022 class, the Wolverines could take that to an entirely new level.

Already, Michigan football is the crystal ball leader for two dynamic wide receivers out of Illinois in Tyler Morris and Kaleb Brown, two top-100 recruits in the 247 composite.

But on the defensive side of the ball, Michigan is also doing a really good job of establishing itself in the recruitment of four-star outside linebacker Sebastian Cheeks.

Cheeks is listed at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds on his 247 sports profile and while he has no crystal ball projections at this time, it’s clear from EJ Holland of Rivals ($) Sunday report that Michigan is at least in the mix.

Cheeks has visited Notre Dame previously and Holland said he expected them and Ohio State to be the main contenders, although the Buckeyes haven’t offered.

But Cheeks also told Holland he wanted to visit Michigan after the dead period and that he’s in frequent contact with coaches, so that’s a good thing. Plus, as I said, there is a strong trend over the past few years with Michigan in Illinois and hopefully, this continues that.

2022 Tight end planning visit to Michigan

While Michigan has been in the mix with some high-ranking 2022 tight ends, another consistent target is three-star Martin Klein, a 6-foot-6 prospect out of Germany originally.

Klein is from Rabun Gap, Georgia and is ranked as the No. 18 tight end in the 247 sports composite rankings, as well as No. 369 overall.

At this point, Klein is raw but he has tremendous upside and Michigan football has been pushing hard for him. And according to Steve Lorenz of the Michigan Insider ($), he will visit Ann Arbor this weekend on an unofficial basis, as others have done.

Tristan Bounds was one who did this and he eventually committed to the Wolverines. Andrel Anthony was another. George Rooks also visited but has yet to make a decision.

Either way, just like with traditional visits, it’s an important thing and shows some genuine interest, especially when a kid visits on his own. Lorenz also wrote this ($) about U’M’s chances:

"“Could see Michigan winning this race eventually. They were Klein’s third offer and I’d argue they’re recruiting him harder than anyone else. Immense upside. Also, Michigan cannot contact kids while they are on campus. I am told they have a ‘creative’ plan in place with prospects who are able to make it up to Ann Arbor on their own.”"

Michigan has been very creative and effective during this dead period, so it’s not a surprise that they have a plan for when visits happen unofficially.

The Wolverines have had some success recruiting international prospects in both football and basketball and we’ll see if Klein is the next to join that list.