Michigan Football: 3 Takeaways from Wolverines 2021 early signing day

Defense recruiting was better than it looks

The narrative is that Michigan football did really well recruiting on the offensive side of the ball but not on defense. And while there is no debating the offense has eight four-star recruits compared to just three on defense, there is still talent on that side of the ball.

That starts with Junior Colson, who is a 6-foot-2, 225-pound outside linebacker who basically runs like a safety. As a junior, he had 14 sacks and this past season, he even returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. He’s going to be a weapon and should help right away.

The Wolverines also got good news late on early signing day as Jaydon Hood and Ja’Den McBurrows, both out of Miami, chose the Wolverines and signed.

On top of that, I really like three-star safety Rod Moore out of Ohio, who is actually a four-star in some rankings and with Hood and Colson, the Wolverines did a solid job at linebacker.

Even the pass rushers — TJ Guy has some real un-tapped potential and the other four-star recruit on defense is Kechaun Bennett, who reminds me a lot of Kwity Paye.

And as I mentioned in the intro, the Wolverines aren’t done with this recruiting class. They are going to make a push for Benny and now that Michigan landed Edwards and a bunch of other top players in the state, it’s possible they can flip him.

If Michigan and Harbaugh can get a contract done soon, which is still imperative, that could help with Benny and Ceyair Wright. If you add those two guys, this class would all of a sudden have 13 four-star recruits and five on defense.

There is a lot of work to do, but this isn’t the end and even if the Wolverines don’t add any more talent on defense in the 2021 class, if Harbaugh is back, the 2022 class could address those issues, especially with U-M already in the mix for two of the top-3 cornerbacks.