Michigan Football: Offer to in-state LB leads to crystal ball projection

Michigan football offered in-state linebacker, Aaron Alexander, over the weekend and immediately became the favorite to land the three-star recruit.

Over the weekend, Michigan football hosted tons of players for its “prospects camp” and a slew of the top performers earned scholarship offers.

One of those went out to 2022 linebacker, Aaron Alexander out of Belleville. It was his first Big Ten offer and it made an immediate impact.

Just hours later, Steve Lorenz of the Michigan Insider, put in a crystal ball prediction with a confidence rating of eight, which cements the Wolverines as the leader.

Alexander isn’t a highly-rated recruit and is actually unranked in the 247 sports composite rankings for the 2022 class. However, he’s a three-star prospect ranked 205th at his position but this isn’t the kind of offer that comes out of nowhere.

Will Alexander be in Michigan’s 2022 class?

Michigan football feels very good about its ability to evaluate players and the Wolverines have shown that time and time again, even in just the past two recruiting classes.

Guys like Rod Moore, Tristan Bounds, and Markus Allen, a former U-M commit who signed with Wisconsin, were all low-rated three-star recruits when Michigan offered and all finished in the top 500 of the final 247 sports composite rankings.

All three were given four-star nods by at least one recruiting service and while Alexander isn’t highly ranked right now, I’d expect him to move up. His other offers were Marshall and Eastern Illinois but we’ll see if the 6-foot-1, 205-pounder adds to that list.

Here’s what he told Maize and Brew about his offer from the Wolverines:

"“Man it felt unreal, it still feels unreal to be honest. Ever since a kid Michigan has been a distant dream and just recently I closed that distance. Michigan is what I’m all about.”"

The question many were probably asking about Alexander when he reported the offer on his Twitter account, is would he be a take?

At this point, it seems that way with Lorenz putting in a crystal ball projection. Besides, it seems unlikely Michigan football would offer an in-state kid, especially from Belleville, and then turn around and say it doesn’t want to take him.

That would be a bad way to spoil a relationship that seems to be getting better with head coach Jeremain Crowell.

Alexander who doubles as a running back for Belleville has some tremendous athleticism. His highlights show him playing multiple spots at linebacker and I really like his burst.

You need linebackers who can run, tackle and cover, and Alexander fits that mold. Michigan is clearly the favorite right now and even though some fans might be worried about the low ranking, the staff knows how to evaluate, and if they want to take Alexander, I’m all for it.