Michigan Football: Elite commit Xavier Worthy visiting Alabama

In some unsettling news, an elite 2021 commitment for Michigan football, Xavier Worthy is planning on a taking a visit to Alabama.

Outside of J.J. McCarthy, the five-star quarterback, the biggest commitment in Michigan football‘s 2021 class is arguably that of wide receiver Xavier Worthy and now, it could be in jeopardy.

Alabama was one of the top schools on Worthy’s list when he decided to commit to Michigan football back over the summer. He has said that he would possibly take visits at some point, but that was when official visits still seemed possible.

Worthy was in Ann Arbor for the Michigan State game and has at least been on campus, but now, according to Adam Gorney of Rivals, he will be at the Alabama-Auburn game, which is worrisome for Michigan football.

It’s worth noting that Worthy has said before that would not decommit, no matter what school he committed to, however, it he was 100 percent committed as he has said, why take the visit?

In terms of the 2021 recruiting class, losing Worthy would be one of the worst things that could happen, simply due to his elite ability. He’s ranked No. 73 overall in the 2021 class and the prospect out of Fresno, California is the No. 11 wideout.

The 6-foot-1 burner has been compared by many to Desean Jackson. He has elite speed and would be the kind of deep threat/playmaker that Michigan football just hasn’t had.

Obviously, with all of the success Alabama has had with wide receivers over the years, the Crimson Tide are going to have a lot to sell, outside of the fact that they are consistently contending for national titles, while Michigan is sitting at 2-3 and fresh off an OT win against Rutgers.

 Michigan football makes Will Johnson’s top five

While the news about Worthy was troubling and is something to watch, there was some good news on the recruiting front as the Wolverines made the top five for elite corner Will Johnson.

Johnson is the No. 8 player overall in the 2022 rankings and the top recruit in the state of Michigan. The Wolverines are also trending in his recruitment and have taken over the crystal ball lead with all six going to U-M with a confidence level of seven on a scale of 1-10.

Ohio State, Oklahoma, Arizona State and USC are the other schools in the mix, but it seems pretty clear that this is a Ohio State-Michigan battle.

The key thing to note here is that Johnson and fellow five-star recruit Domani Jackson, the top corner in 2022, have talked frequently about being a pair or a package deal so to speak.

However, this report from Bill Kurelic of 247 sports (subscription required) indicates that both Jackson and Johnson will be visiting Columbus, so it definitely feels like that combo is headed to Ann Arbor or Columbus.

Johnson’s father played for Michigan and Jackson’s dad is a Michigan football fan. Jackson has also called U-M his “dream school” so there are some positive signs for the Wolverines, who also hosted both recruits recently.

We’ll see but Michigan needs to build on the momentum it got from beating Rutgers, otherwise all of these recruitments could go the wrong way.