Michigan Football: Latest buzz with Rayshaun Benny, Branden Jennings

A number of recruiting experts weigh in on Rayshaun Benny’s recruitment, plus Michigan football is confirmed in the mix for a top-100 recruit.

We know when Michigan football target Rayshaun Benny will announce his decision, the unknown now is where he will wind up.

Benny’s top four includes Michigan football, Michigan State, Penn State and Kentucky and if you were to list the favorites to win this recruiting battle, they would probably be in that order.

There’s no question that Michigan State has been building momentum. The Spartans have also adjusted their pitch and are allowing Benny to play offense or defense.

If you remember, Michigan has been recruiting him as a defensive tackle, which is where he said he wants to play and the Wolverines offered him that chance this past winter, so they were ahead of the curve. According to EJ Holland of Rivals ($), Penn State also offered the chance to play DT.

".”An interesting twist with the Benny is the fact that Penn State is now telling him he can play defensive line after recruiting him as an offensive lineman. That’s something to watch. And yes, Kentucky remains the dark horse. Michigan State is making a hellacious effort with Benny. The Spartans are hitting him up non-stop and are continuing to pitch ‘face of the class.”"

Benny has talked about his mom liking Penn State and the Nittany Lions have a few Michigan in-state recruits already committed, so don’t count them out.

Yet, here is what Penn State Rivals reported Ryan Snyder said about the program’s chances with Benny, which should U-M fans feel more optimistic:

"“I think PSU being open to defense now could help the Nittany Lions, but I’ve also always thought that they were second or third, at best, with Benny. As of now, it’s hard to see him leaving the state.”"

Kentucky is in the mix, but still feels like more of a longshot. Michigan State is the biggest threat and here’s what their Rivals reporter Justin Thind wrote Tuesday:

"“If anyone else has a chance to land Benny over the Wolverines, it would be the recently-surging Spartans.”"

Over the weekend, the Spartans were No. 2 on my ranking of contenders for Benny, but Michigan football is still in the top spot.

MSU has sold him on being able to brand himself and the NIL stuff at Michigan State, but anyone who knows anything knows that Michigan is much bigger brand than Michigan State. That has always been the case and will always be the case.

The Block M is a brand all in itself. Michigan literally has a letter in the alphabet that people associate with the University of Michigan, so if the Wolverines lose based off that, they didn’t go a very good job recruiting.

Michigan State has done a great job, but the bottom line is that if U-M misses on this one, especially to the Spartans, it will rank right up there in terms of bad recruiting defeats.

Benny is a must get.

Michigan football among contenders for top-100 LB

Following the decommitment of four-star linebacker Branden Jennings from Florida State, it was reported that Michigan football was among the early contenders in his re-opened recruitment.

And on Tuesday night, Air Wasserman, a college football reporter for The Athletic, tweeted that Michigan was indeed among the contenders along with Texas A&M, Clemson and USC.

Wasserman said, “The Wolverines are in really solid position.” 247 sports reported that, as did EJ Holland ($), but he said Michigan’s main competition could be Miami, so the fact that Wasserman didn’t hear anything about the Hurricanes could be significant. Or he could just be wrong.

Obviously, a name like Clemson is always going to garner some attention, but Michigan is one of two schools ($) Jennings visited for games last year and Notre Dame was the other.

He was also frequently on campus with Miami and Florida State and took a number of unofficial visits to both schools, as well as Georgia Tech.

I’d still have to believe Miami will enter the mix here. The Hurricanes have been pushing for Michigan commit Jaydon Hood, so they have a want/need at linebacker and one in their own backyard seems worth making a run at.

However, Michigan has had success with Florida kids and a notable one is Devin Bush Jr., another linebacker from Florida, as well as Anthony Solomon in the last cycle.

We’ll see, but that’s a few different sources putting Michigan football in the mix for one of the most talented defenders left uncommitted in the 2021 class.