Michigan Football: New possible DT target in transfer portal
Auburn defensive tackle Jay Hardy entered the transfer portal and having offered the four-star recruit previously, Michigan football should pursue him.
Coming out of spring ball, the Michigan football program clearly has some needs to address and the biggest might be along the defensive line where the depth is thin.
The Wolverines have been hoping to add a defensive tackle or two in the transfer portal and even expressed interest in other defensive tackles but haven’t been able to land one yet.
At this point, the pickings are pretty slim as far as defensive tackles are concerned, at least the caliber that would prove to be an upgrade for the Wolverines.
But one name popped into the portal on Monday that could be a target for Michigan football and that’s four-star defensive tackle Jay Hardy, who committed to Auburn in the class of 2020.
2020 4-star DT Jay Hardy has entered the transfer portal after playing in one game during his true freshman season at Auburn @rivalsmike @BMattAU https://t.co/nUGBtgP8pG
— NCAA Transfer Portal (@RivalsPortal) May 3, 2021
Hardy is a big-time player or at least he was coming out of high school, being rated as a top-100 recruit. However, he didn’t get on the field for the Tigers until the bowl game.
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This spring, he was in the two-deep, but the Tigers have had a coaching change and maybe that led to him going to the portal.
His old head coach Gus Malzahn might try to make a run at him, but Michigan football did offer during his recruitment and the Wolverines can offer him a chance to play right away.
Chris Hinton, Mazi Smith, and Donovan Jeter were all four-star recruits but none of them have met expectations. Even if they do this season, the Wolverines are going to need more depth in the trenches or they are going to get pushed around some like they did last season against Wisconsin.
Hardy is out of Tennessee and while he didn’t visit Michigan, he was offered by the Wolverines, who have started to get more of a presence in the state of Tennessee.
With spring practices ending across the country, more players entering the portal makes sense, but those talented prospects like Hardy won’t last long, so Michigan football needs to strike while the iron is hot, because it must do what it can to upgrade the defensive line prior to the fall.