Michigan Football: Dillon Tatum a priority for new staff, more on George Rooks

Michigan football landed a commitment earlier this week from four-star defensive lineman George Rooks, who offered some tidbits on the new scheme the Wolverines could be running next season.

In an interview with Brian Dohn of 247 sports, talking about his recent pledge to the Wolverines, Rooks said the defensive scheme was something that appealed to him after he had a conversation with defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald.

“He’s a really good dude and I like the system he is about to run,” Rooks told 247 sports about Macdonald. “He does a lot of different schemes and stuff that I am really excited about.”

While Rooks is listed on his 247 sports profile as a defensive tackle, at 6-foot-4, 260 pounds, he could play defensive end or tackle with Michigan football and a lot of that depends on the kind of front the Wolverines will be using. My guess is that it will be multiple.

Here’s some tidbits from Rooks on what the defense could look like:

"“It’s not really a traditional 3-4, or traditional 4-3. He runs a lot of different fronts an he likes to get after it. He likes to get after the quarterbacks and the running backs in the backfield, so it’s going to be fun.”"

Rooks is sort of a tweener and his length would make him a perfect five-technique. However, with his pass-rush ability, I also want to see him bumped down as a defensive tackle in certain situations, because interior pass rush hasn’t been strong in recent years.

Regardless of position, Rooks was a really good get and thanks to him, we have confirmed some of our suspicions about the kind of scheme Macdonald would run.

New staff makes Dillon Tatum a priority

Looking ahead to the class of 2022, one of the top recruits has always been Dillon Tatum out of West Bloomfield and even with a new staff in place, that hasn’t changed.

According to Brice Marich of the Michigan Insider, Tatum was re-offered this week by the Michigan football staff in a sign that he’s going to continue to be a top target moving forward.

At 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, Tatum is a true athlete who could play either side of the ball. He was being recruited as a running back, but now it seems that Michigan is more focused on him as a cornerback.

He’s ranked 246th overall in 2022 according to the 247 sports composite rankings, while also being ranked fifth in the state of Michigan.

Michigan State has been building some momentum with Tatum and the Spartans picked some Futurecast picks in December for Tatum over at Rivals.

Yet, with his former high school head coach Ron Bellamy now on the Michigan staff, as well as former teammate Donovan Edwards being a Wolverine, U-M should have a good shot.

The built-in advantage of having Tatum’s former high school coach on staff should give Michigan an edge in this recruitment, which is good because he’s a recruit U-M has to get.