After missing on 5-star, Michigan Football must get Dillon Tatum

Landing five-star safety Keon Sabb would have been huge, but now that Michigan football has missed out on his commitment, the Wolverines have got to get Dillon Tatum. 

Dillon Tatum has always been an important recruiting target for Michigan football in the class of 2022. But after the Wolverines missed out on another safety prospect on Saturday, the Wolverines desperately need the in-state safety in their class.

Michigan football was a serious contender for Keon Sabb before all the coaching changes and the Wolverines re-emerged in the last few weeks and a real contender for the top-30 recruit.

However, their pursuit wasn’t enough to win over the five-star safety, who pledged to Clemson on Saturday afternoon. It was a tough beat, but one that was expected.

And with D’Arco Perkins-McCallister choosing TCU last weekend and another top target, Ja’Kobi Albert, getting multiple crystal balls to Auburn, following one to Michigan football, he looks like far from a slam dunk to add to the class.

So at the safety position, that pretty much leaves Tatum, who was already a top priority as a top-300 recruit overall in 2022 and one of the top recruits in Michigan for this class.

Tatum is still torn between Michigan football, Michigan State

At this point, it’s pretty clear that Tatum is still torn between the Wolverines and Spartans, the two in-state teams and programs recruiting him hardest.

Tatum was supposed to commit in April and even had a commitment video that was being worked on, meaning at one point, his mind was made up. With all the crystal ball projections pointing to Michigan, it was likely that the Wolverines were going to be the pick.

However, Mel Tucker and the Spartans have closed strong and it sounds like Tatum wants to visit each school one more time before making his decision according to what he told 247 sports:

"“I’m probably, most likely going to go back to each one of the schools and see where I’m more comfortable at,” Tatum said. “It’s just really where I want to be the most because you can’t go wrong with either one of those schools.”"

Jaren Kanak could be another potential safety target for the Wolverines. He’s a dynamic athlete from Kansas, but he’s also been trending with expert picks to Clemson and he could be more than a safety too, so Sabb committing to the Tigers may not impact him.