Michigan Football: Wolverines offer new 2022 dual-threat QB

Michigan football still doesn’t have a quarterback commitment in the 2022 recruiting class and a new candidate received an offer on Saturday.

The Michigan football program has been undergoing some changes to its recruiting operation and one of the recent moves was Aashon Larkins taking over as director of recruiting.

Larkins, who was an off-field analyst last season for the Wolverines, while also spending some time as an on-field coach, has been spearheading U-M’s recruiting efforts in Alabama, which makes it no surprise that the latest QB offer went to Conner Harrell, a three-star recruit out of the state of Alabama.

Harrell announced the offer on his Twitter account Saturday and tagged Larskins in it.

Under new quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss, it seems the Wolverines are trending more towards dual-threat options. Nate Johnson remains a top target in the 2022 class. He’s a three-star recruit out of California that is taking a visit in June and has expert picks to U-M.

Yet, Harrell, who is 6-foot-1, 191 pounds, is ranked 306 spots higher than Johnson, who is 953rd overall in the 247 composite rankings. Harrell is ranked 646 overall in 2022 and as the 13th-ranked dual-threat quarterback. He’s also ranked 28th in the state of Alabama.

The offer does come a little late, as Harrell just released a top-10 earlier this week and included these teams: Vanderbilt, Arizona State, Northwestern, Liberty, Indiana, TCU, Duke, Louisiana, Nebraska, and West Virginia.

Harrell, who led his team to an undefeated season and a 7A state championship in Alabama, after throwing for 3,568 yards and 42 touchdowns, as well as more than 300 yards on the ground and five scores, has been a fast-riser.

North Carolina also offered Harrell on Saturday. Northwestern jumped in the mix recently and secured a visit, so things are heating up.

What are Michigan football’s chances?

Harrell’s recruitment seems pretty wide open. Even though he released a cut list, it was just a top 10, not a top five or top three. That gives Michigan a chance to possibly secure a visit and work its way into the mix.

Larkins has done a great job building connections in the state and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Harrell take a visit.

It remains to be seen what this means for Nate Johnson, who is probably still the top target on the board and a guy Weiss really likes, but any expansion of the quarterback board is something to watch.