Michigan Football: Aftermath of Drew Kendall and 2021 O-line recruiting

Michigan football probably isn’t going to land four-star target Drew Kendall and it won’t take guard Noah Josey either.

Things have been a whirlwind for Michigan football when it comes to offensive line recruiting in 2021, especially over the last few months.

Michigan has been engaged in two very back-and-forth recruitments. The first was with Rocco Spindler, a top player in the state of Michigan. He was a big-time prospect and the Wolverines were in the mix for a long time, but he ultimately picked Notre Dame.

Then, then attention turned to Drew Kendall, who actually started trending with crystal ball projections to U-M as far back as April.

So for months, it looked liked Kendall to the Wolverines was a done deal. Then, there were rumors that he didn’t want to be part of a four-man interior O-line class.

That should have raised some flags right there. It looked like Michigan was going to have to settle for Spindler or Kendall and most would have been fine with that.

It seemed like the Wolverines had a good shot with Spindler and if not, it felt like Kendall was in the bag. Oh, how wrong we all were.

After delaying his decision from July to August to now mid-September or this week, Kendall seems headed to Boston College. I didn’t include Kendall in revised predictions for 2021 Sunday and on Monday, EJ Holland of Rivals flipped his pick to BC. Three other rivals analysts did the same.

The crystal balls at 247 sports are still favoring Michigan, but that can change quickly and at some point, I would expect them to. Until Kendall makes his announcement, nothing is set in stone.

But I wouldn’t count on him being a Wolverine.

What about Noah Josey?

When things started going south with Kendall, there was some reported contact between Michigan and three-star guard Noah Josey.

However, according to Holland ($), who cites a source, the Wolverines aren’t pursuing Josey and are going to stand pat on the interior offensive line in 2021.

That means Michigan will wind up with four-star recruits Greg Crippen and Raheem Anderson. Anderson is going to play center and while Crippen has played center and guard, he looks to be a guard with the Wolverines.

Both are very solid players and with the depth Michigan has at guard right now, just taking two interior guys shouldn’t hurt them.

Holland noted that Michigan is still pushing for Nolan Rucci, but I don’t think there is any realistic hope of that happening. He’s the No. 16 player in 2021 and the offensive tackle has crystal ball projections or Clemson, Wisconsin and Penn State, so who knows.

The one thing about Michigan not taking Josey or another guard is that it should open up room for running back Tavierre Dunlap. He was a take anyway, but now there will be less of a numbers crunch if he commits, which could happen soon.

The most likely to commit at this point are Dunlap, Donovan Edwards, Rayshaun Benny, Daymon David and George Rooks. There could be room for a sixth, maybe a cornerback.

And not adding another offensive lineman will allow for a back and a corner, instead of having to choose between one or the other.