Michigan Football: Latest intel on Wolverines and elite 2022 targets

Michigan football is off to a solid start in the 2022 recruiting class and here’s the latest on a trio of priority targets.

Since last Friday, Michigan football has added two commitments to the 2022 class, with the most recent coming from three-star tight end Marlin Klein on Tuesday.

Klein is a 6-foot-6 freak and he’s a recruit that Michigan football fans should be really excited about landing, despite his three-star ranking at the present time.

Yet, there has also been some recent updates on some priority targets for the Wolverines, starting with top corner recruit Jaedon Gould.

The 6-foot-2 corner out of Bergen Catholic in New Jersey, a school where Michigan has landed kids before, is ranked 146th in the 247 composite rankings and 16th among corners.

But seeing as the Wolverines have only added one so far in the 2021 class, corner is going to be a key position of need and Gould is a top target at the position along with five-star recruits Will Johnson and Domani Jackson.

While things with Johnson and Jackson are more wide open right now, according to EJ Holland of Rivals ($) Michigan is one of two favorites to land Gould along with Texas.

"“There is a feeling that Michigan and Texas are the two schools at the top of his list at this time. I think it’s safe to say that Michigan leads, but he is going to visit Texas as soon as the dead period is over. Gould has been to U-M on numerous occasions, talks to the staff weekly and is friends with 2022 commit Tyler Martin. He wants to wait until after he can make visits to pull the trigger.”"

Gould does have a pair of crystal ball projections from 247 sports to the Wolverines with an average confidence level of six out of 10.

It makes sense that he would want to take visits before making a decision, but unless Texas really does an outstanding job, the Wolverines have felt like the team to beat for a while.

Checking in with elite corner Domani Jackson

If there was a No. 1 target on the board for 2022, Jackson would be in contention for that spot, along with Will Johnson, who is the top-ranked recruit in the state of Michigan.

According to the 247 composite rankings, Jackson, who is 6-foot-1, 185 pounds is the No. 4 player nationally and the top corner in the 2022 class.

Obviously, there is a lot of work to do in order to land a commitment like Jackson, but as Jackson’s father told Brice Marich of the Michigan Insider ($), U-M is putting in the work.

"“They have given him attention. When the head coach like Jim Harbaugh or Coach Zordich or Don Brown talk to him, it means they’re highly interested in him. I do like that they take the time out to actually make time for me where as sometimes in recruiting, recruits get lost in the sauce. It was very impressive to me.”"

Jackson’s dad grew up a Michigan fan and Jackson has called Michigan his “dream” school before, so we’ll see, but the Wolverines are firmly in the mix right now.

Marich also caught up with 2022 wide receiver Tyler Morris, another top-100 recruit that the Wolverines are recruiting hard. U-M has a pair of crystal ball picks for him, just like with Gould.

Morris said that Michigan was among the schools recruiting him hardest since Sept. 1, along with Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas, Iowa and Missouri among others.

The receiver from Illinois used to be teammates with J.J. McCarthy, a five-star quarterback commit for the Wolverines in 2021 and Morris said the two still keep in touch.

“He does [stay in contact],” Morris said ($). “He’s always saying something to push me Michigan’s way and trying to get us back together in college.”

That’s a good sign for Michigan football fans and while there is a ways to go in all these recruitments, you have to feel good about where U-M stands in all three.