Michigan Football: 2022 LB gets 2nd projection to Wolverines

One target is trending away from Michigan football which has led to an expert pick for another 2022 target and that’s Deuce Spurlock. 

There was hope that Michigan football would be able to land the commitment of four-star linebacker Sebastian Cheeks at some point in the 2022 recruiting class.

Cheeks visited Michigan football last month and when he announced that he would be making his decision July 28th, there was hope for a minute, however, he soon started trending with crystal ball projections to North Carolina.

It looks like the Wolverines will lose out on another top target to the Tar Heels, which is disappointing but Mack Brown has made UNC into a real factor on the recruiting trail, so it’s not exactly shocking.

Even though Cheeks is likely committing to North Carolina, Michigan football is still looking to add to its linebacker haul in 2022 and there are some other candidates including Jeremy Patton, a three-star linebacker who is also announcing his decision this month.

Patton has crystal ball picks to Texas, Baylor, and Michigan with the projection to the Wolverines coming July 14. Yet, with the Longhorns poised to miss out on Cheeks, they will likely make an even harder push for Patton who is from Tenaha, Texas.

It’s certainly possible for Michigan football to get him out of the Lone Star State but right now, the Longhorns are the favorite.

A 2nd pick for Deuce Spurlock

EJ Holland who covers Michigan recruiting for Rivals is pretty clear on how he thinks this will all play out. Just look at his picks.

Holland is projecting Cheeks to North Carolina and Patton to Texas. He also added a new Futurecast pick for the Wolverines on Tuesday in favor of three-star LB Deuce Spurlock.

Spurlock is ranked as a three-star by Rivals and 247 sports. He’s ranked 1,198 in the 247 sports composite rankings for 2022 but the staff is high on him and his ranking is likely to improve just as Aaron Alexander‘s has following his commitment.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound athlete is also starting to pick up more Power-5 offers. Mississippi State has an offer and a crystal ball pick from Sam Webb (at a confidence of one), while Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Washington State, and Boston College have all offered.

It’s not an overly competitive list for the Wolverines and if Michigan pushes, as Holland seems to be projecting it will if it misses on Cheeks and Patton, it should win out.

Steve Lorenz of the Michigan Insider also has a crystal ball projection for the Wolverines at a confidence level of seven. With Webb’s so low that indicates to me that it’s just a matter of how hard Michigan pushes.

And that will be determined by the decisions of Patton and Cheeks, at least if you go by the expert predictions.