Michigan Football: A new crystal ball for top target in 2022

Michigan football recruit Joshua Burnham released his top three on Thursday and the Wolverines picked up another expert pick soon after. 

One day after releasing a top three that looked fairly promising for Michigan football, Joshua Burnham has gotten another crystal ball pick projecting him to the Wolverines.

Burnham is an elite recruit and the No. 2 player in the state of Michigan in the recruiting class of 2022. He’s 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, and has a legit ability to play on both sides of the ball, although he’s seen mostly as an outside linebacker.

The Traverse City, Michigan prospect narrowed his list of schools down to Michigan football, Wisconsin and Notre Dame and now one of Wisconsin’s recruiting experts at 247 sports, Evan Flood is predicting Burnham to the Wolverines too.

It’s significant for a couple of reasons. For one, the Wolverines haven’t had any crystal ball projections come in for Burnham since April and with a decision potentially coming around the corner, things are looking really good for U-M at this point.

Flood entered his pick for the Wolverines with a confidence level of six out of 10, which is the same confidence level of all the recruiting experts and as I’ve said, I’d be surprised if Burnham didn’t end up with the Wolverines.

And with Alex VanSumeren re-opening his recruitment, landing the second-ranked prospect in the state of Michigan would be a huge get. If you include the Futurecast picks for Burnham to Michigan over at Rivals — that’s nine total.

DE offer to watch

The Wolverines have been handing out a ton of offers in the 2022 class and one to watch is to Missouri three-star defensive end DJ Wesolak.

He’s a 6-foot-5, 235-pound defensive end and he’s listed as the No. 21 weak-side end as well as the No. 11 recruit in Missouri. Wesolak told Allen Trieu of 247 sports that he has “great interest” in Michigan football after the offer.

Just in the last three days, Wesolak has been offered by Michigan, Purdue, Texas, Minnesota and Virginia Tech, so he’s definitely on the rise.

Watching his highlights, he’s long and he’s got some position versatility. He lines up mostly as an edge defender but also rushes at times from the interior and would probably be a good fit in the Wolverines scheme as a hybrid or even a five-technique if he fills out cause he has the length.

Finding pass rushers is always a focus, as is finding defenders that fit the new scheme and Wesolak checks both boxes.