Michigan Football still in the mix for elite 2022 targets

Michigan football made the top list for an elite tight end, plus the latest on five-star targets Walter Nolen and Domani Jackson. 

Recently, there was some buzz of a new top three for five-star defensive tackle Walter Nolen and Michigan football wasn’t on that list.

But neither were some other top schools such as Alabama, who were included in the recent top-5 released by Nolen this summer.

Michigan football cracked the top five too and while the Wolverines aren’t the favorite to land Nolen, they aren’t out of the mix as Nolen is planning to visit Ann Arbor, not once but twice according to Sam Webb of The Michigan Insider (subscription required).

Nolen’s dad also told Webb that people overreacted to what Walter Nolen said in the interview. He said it was how he felt at the time, but that essentially, November is a long way away.

“I keep telling everybody, stop panicking. It’s not even November,” Walter Sr. told Webb.

Getting Nolen away from the SEC schools is going to be really tough and Alabama still feels like it has a shot to come in and land him at the end of all this. That’s another school he will be visiting this fall.

It’s going to be a back-and-forth recruitment. It already has been, but Michigan football isn’t out of it just yet and that’s a positive sign.

Michigan football cracks cut list for elite TE

Oscar Delp is a top-100 tight end and even ranked 93rd in the 247 sports composite rankings, feels low for the 6-foot-5, 220-pound tight end out of West Forsyth, Georgia.

Michigan football offered Delp first in the process and at one time, received a crystal ball projection for his commitment.

But Georgia, the in-state program, has made a strong push and the Bulldogs are viewed as the favorite, leading with crystal ball predictions, although he did say really good things about his visit to Ann Arbor.

Clemson and South Carolina also made the final four along with Michigan football. It’s a positive to still be in the race, but the Wolverines have two tight ends committed and while they would certainly take a player like Delp, it feels like a longshot.

Speaking of longshots, it feels like Michigan was a longshot to flip five-star cornerback Domani Jackson, however, all of a sudden on Thursday, he tweeted “Go Blue” to Will Johnson.

Jackson has talked about taking visits and said he was going to visit Alabama this fall. Does this mean that Michigan would get a visit?

Even if it does, when it comes to Jackson and Nolen, the Wolverines need to win on the field or they aren’t going to have a chance. But at the very least, it’s good to know they are still in a position to sway some of these elite targets and maybe a strong season would do it.