It was a busy week for Michigan football, as the season will restart in October. But from a recruiting perspective, here’s a breakdown of all the big news.
When it comes down to it, this was a good week for Michigan football fans and Big Ten fans everywhere. As the league finally announced its decision to start up play in October, fans rejoiced.
Now, we finally have something to look forward to from a Michigan football perspective, a game date and a start to actual fall camp.
There are still obstacles and in this pandemic, nothing is guaranteed. But it feels good to focus on some football and the new schedule, which was released Saturday.
But on the recruiting front, it was also a busy week. The Wolverines didn’t pick up any commitments and in fact, in the 2021 class, they had their second decommit in a week.
Casey Phinney, a three-star linebacker out of Massachusetts, who committed to the Wolverines back in the spring, has now flipped his commitment to Boston College.
There were rumblings about this early in the week and then, when crystal ball picks came in for Boston College, the writing was on the wall.
Phinney wasn’t a high-ranking prospect and actually ranked outside the top 1,000 in the 247 sports composite rankings. But defensive coordinator Don Brown was high on the kid and it’s easy for recruits to be underrated in the Northeast.
At any rate, the fact that Drew Kendall soured on Michigan seemed to have something to do with it. Kendall is still deciding, but his high school teammate (Phinney) won’t be a Wolverine either.
The other piece of news that will impact Michigan football recruiting was the extension of the dead period through the end of this year.
That will directly impact top targets in 2021 such as Donovan Edwards and Rayshaun Benny, who have been holding off on decisions, with the hopes of taking visits.
It sounds like Edwards is still planning on visiting campuses on his own and his recruitment is where we will look next as we break down the week that was in recruiting.
Donovan Edwards is hard to read
There’s no question that Donovan Edwards is the top guy on the board for the Wolverines in the 2021 recruiting class and if there was one must-land dude, he would be it.
But his recruitment is really hard to read. Michigan seems to be the leader right now and if you believe the crystal ball projections, that would be accurate. Steve Lorenz of the Michigan Insider ($), who recently placed a crystal ball said he was thinking about upping his confidence in it.
So on one hand, there seems to be an idea that the extension of the dead period will help U-M with Edwards, since he won’t be able to take official visits.
After his opening game of the high school season Friday night, 247 sports caught up with him.
“I’ve been to Michigan and Georgia, I’m not stressing that. I really want to go to Norman, Oklahoma, for sure,” Edwards told Josh Newkirk of 247 sports.
Edwards has obviously been to Michigan multiple times and also visited Georgia. But Clayton Seflie of Rivals ($) also reported that he was set to be in Norman last week.
"“Edwards is planning on taking visits to schools despite not being able to actually be in contact with the coaching staffs while there. He was actually planning on going down to Norman, Oklahoma to visit the Sooners for their game last week, but the trip fell through. He is focused on his high school season now, so he’s not going anywhere in the next few weeks.”"
In both interviews, Edwards said he would not commit until at least after his high school season. The 247 sports article said he would wait till December, but according to Rivals, it just won’t come before the end of the high school season.
That should put to rest the idea that Edwards could suddenly pull the trigger. It’s possible he changes hid mind. But it sounds like he wants to visit Oklahoma before making a decision.
In my opinion, Georgia is still a bigger threat, especially if Camar Wheaton commits to the Sooners, but it shows Edwards still has legitimate interest outside of Michigan.
I’ve been predicting Edwards to the Wolverines for a while now and push come to shove, I’d still make that pick, but there are still concerns for me. If Michigan is it, why the wait?
Wolverines extend new offer, more on the way?
Following the flip of Phinney to Boston College, the Wolverines are down to just 20 commitments in the 2021 class and the list of realistic targets is also dwindling.
Ceyair Wright, a cornerback out of California, has been talked about a lot and some have been hoping Michigan football would make a late push. Yet, he is now trending with crystal balls to USC and without being able to get him in for a visit, U-M has little hope.
So it’s not a huge surprise that Michigan sent out a new offer to Texas offensive lineman Remington Strickland.
It seemed like Michigan could be done with offensive line recruiting after missing out on Drew Kendall and Rocco Spindler, but Strickland was offered Saturday and the three-star recruit is looked at as a left guard or possible right tackle according to Lorenz The Michigan Insider ($).
Strickland is ranked 765th in the composite rankings and is ranked as the No. 10 center, even though that’s not where the Wolverines want him to play.
He’s an aggressive kid and a moves fairly well. I think he would be a better fit on the interior, as I’m not sure how he would hold up on the edge, but he does play both in his highlights. His offer list includes Purdue, Arkansas and Houston among a total of 27. He has no crystal ball projections.
Michigan was hoping at one time to have 26 commitments in the class, but now, even getting to 25 might be a challenge unless there are more late offers like this one.
New developments in 2022 recruiting
There were a few promising things that happened for Michigan with the 2022 class this week and it started with cracking the top 10 for elite corner Will Johnson.
Johnson is the top-ranked player in the state of Michigan for the 2022 cycle and while fending off Ohio State will be difficult, the Wolverines are solidly in the mix.
As far as a possible commitment in the semi-near future, one name to keep an eye is that of three-star tight end Marlin Klein, a 2022 tight end who got another crystal ball to the Wolverines this week. He now has two with a confidence level of six on a scale of 1-10.
Klein is 6-foot-6 and while he’s ranked 372nd in the composite rankings, he has big-time upside and the Wolverines are really high on him.
U-M is actually in really good shape with another 2022 tight end, Oscar Delp. He’s a 6-foot-5, 220-pound prospect out of Georgia that is currently unraked. Here’s what Steve Lorenz wrote ($) this week on Delp for the Michigan Insider:
"“Sam (Webb) posted last week that he is close on a prediction for 2022 TE Oscar Delp to the Wolverines. I am really close as well. There is some belief out there that Delp could be an early decision; if he is, it will be Michigan.”"
Michigan may not land a top-100 tight end in the 2022 class, but a couple of versatile receiving targets could be on the way.
Lastly, another priority target in 2022 is Joshua Burnham a Traverse City prospect who is one of the state’s best recruits. Burnham is ranked 129th in the 247 composite rankings and 10th among outside linebackers. He also has five crystal balls to the Wolverines already.
However, his recruitment is getting more of a national flavor, so it’s not a done deal. EJ Holland of Rivals ($) caught up with him Friday and noted that Burnham wants to make a decision after his junior season but that Holland didn’t think “It would go too long.”
Holland also reported that Burnham heard from head coach Jim Harbaugh leading up this game this past weekend, showing just how much of a priority his recruitment is for the staff.