Michigan Football: Transfer portal DT chooses Arkansas over Wolverines
Michigan football offered defensive tackle John Ridgeway out of Illinois State in the transfer portal but the Wolverines have missed out on him.
All offseason, Michigan football fans have been clamoring for the Wolverines to make some additions in the transfer portal.
It’s obvious that some help is needed on that side of the ball or a lot of young guys will need to step up. One of the glaring weaknesses on the defense right now is up front on the D-line.
Michigan football has expressed interest in adding some beef to the defense through the portal and last week, U-M offered John Ridgeway, a 6-foot-5, 330-pound defensive tackle out of Illinois State.
However, the Wolverines were far from alone in offering. Showing how rare good defensive tackles are in the portal, Ridgeway was flooded with offers. And on Sunday, he announced that he would be committing to Arkansas.
According to 247 sports, Ridgeway would have two years of eligibility left, since the 2020 season does not count against eligibility. It’s also a miss on a guy who probably could have started on the defensive line or at least played a key role in the rotation.
What now for Michigan at DT?
Michigan football does have a number of highly-ranked recruits in its two-deep. The starting front could be Mazi Smith, Chris Hinton, and Donovan Jeter, who were all four-star prospects. They just need to play up to that status.
And truth be told, all have shown flashes. Smith was much better down the stretch last season and truly, all three need to have a good year if this defense is going to improve.
Depth is still a concern though. Nothing against Jess Speight, but I don’t have a ton of confidence in him as a backup defensive lineman. The Wolverines need better than that and they desperately need another big body (300 plus pounds).
One 300-pounder that’s still in the portal is Central Michigan defensive tackle Mohamed Diallo. He’s 6-foot-4, 320 pounds and in four games for Central Michigan last season, Diallo had 16 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, and three sacks.
Diallo was recruited by Texas A&M out of high school and started his career there, before leaving for Central Michigan. He’s now in the portal again and entered as a graduate transfer.
Yet, Diallo has been sitting in the portal for some time and Michigan hasn’t made much of a move, which could mean they aren’t that high on him or there’s another issue, such as admissions.
So for now, it looks like the Wolverines are going with the guys they’ve got on the D-line.