Michigan Football: Dillon Tatum to decide soon between Wolverines, MSU

When it comes to top target Dillon Tatum in the class of 2022 for Michigan football, it’s a battle between the Wolverines and the Spartans.

It’s been known for some time that Dillon Tatum‘s recruitment was down to Michigan football and Michigan State, but it’s now more clear than ever that the four-star defensive back will choose either the Wolverines or Spartans.

Tatum, who is 5-foot-11, 189 pounds, is ranked as the No. 5 overall recruit in the state of Michigan for 2022 as well as the No. 255 player overall.

With him ranking so high in the state of Michigan, it’s no wonder U-M and MSU are the top competitors, and here’s what Tatum told Rivals about his recruitment:

"“It’s really down to Michigan and Michigan State. Those other schools stopped recruiting me once I put that top four out. I don’t understand why, but maybe they assumed I wasn’t going to go out of state.”"

Tatum released his top four recently, but this has long felt like a Michigan-Michigan State battle. The Spartans are doing everything they can to land Tatum and just hosted him at their spring game earlier this month.

However, the Wolverines have some advantages in their favor, such as the fact that former West Bloomfield head coach Ron Bellamy is now on their staff.

Tatum played for West Bloomfield and won a state championship with Bellamy as his head coach last season. He also has former teammates at U-M such as Donovan Edwards, Makari Paige, and Cornell Wheeler.

While Tatum has yet to make his decision public, it does sound like it’s been made.  He was even talking about a commitment video that was being made. Its delay is one of the reasons he won’t be making his announcement in April as expected.

That delay though shouldn’t hurt the Wolverines who are the crystal ball leaders with all seven predictions sending him to U-M. And according to what Tatum told Rivals, a decision is coming soon.

"“I do plan to make a decision in the next few weeks. It didn’t work out for April because the video I want to post for my commitment is not ready yet. In my mind, I probably give it another week. I probably give it another week before I (know), and probably after that week the video might come out.”"

It’s easy to be optimistic about Tatum choosing Michigan right now, but I view the Spartans as a very real threat here.

All the expert picks are with the Wolverines but I won’t feel good about this one until Tatum actually says the words.