Michigan Football: CJ Carr impresses, plus a QB to monitor in 2023

Michigan football target CJ Carr was among the quarterbacks that impressed at a recent Elite 11 event, plus another QB recruit to monitor in 2023. 

It’s not a big secret that the recruitment of CJ Carr is blowing up. The Michigan football legacy is ranked 23rd overall according to the On3.com consensus rankings and he’s close to being in that range of consensus five-star prospect.

Carr is the grandson of former Michigan football head coach Lloyd Carr, but he’s also out of Saline, Michigan in the 2024 recruiting class and is the top in-state player for that cycle.

The Wolverines are the crystal ball leader for Carr right now. However, Notre Dame recently received a projection too, and Michigan football is the leader according to the On3.com prediction machine at 55 percent to Notre Dame’s 42 percent (likelihood of a commitment).

Michigan and Notre Dame were thought to be the main players in Carr’s recruitment and that might still be the case, but more SEC schools are getting interested as Alabama, Georgia, and LSU are all in the mix and Carr’s performance at last weekend’s Elite 11 in Nashville shows why.

Here’s what Cooper Petagna wrote about Carr’s performance for 247 sports:

"“Sunday’s best performance and purest passer in my opinion belonged to the Class of 2024’s CJ Carr. Carr made everything look easy on Sunday, displaying excellent command and accuracy at every level of the field. The grandson of Lloyd Carr, the Saline High School standout appears to be ahead of the curve both physically and mentally as he approaches his junior season. Although it’s early, I doubt there’s many signal callers whose game is as put together as Carr’s is right now.”"

Michigan football has already fallen behind in the pursuit of Dante Moore and there is reason to be concerned about Carr, so the Wolverines need to turn things around because he’s elite and if the Wolverines don’t get Moore or Carr, there will be some serious questions to answer.

Another potential QB target for Michigan football in 2023

While Dante Moore has been the focus in the 2023 recruiting class for the Wolverines, and he’s expected to make an unofficial visit soon, Michigan football could be looking at extending another scholarship offer soon and the QB in question is four-star Avery Johnson.

Johnson was another standout at the Elite 11 event in Nashville and the 6-foot-2, 185-pound passer out of Maize, Kansas is someone Michigan football fans should be aware of.

Steve Wiltfong of 247 sports dropped a nugget (subscription required) on The Michigan Insider board that the Michigan coaching staff was going to watch Johnson throw.

Johnson is an impressive athlete and is a really good high school basketball player in addition to being a standout quarterback. He’s run a verified 4.5 in the 40-yard dash and is a true dual-threat option.

According to another article by Wiltfong on the kid, Johnson threw for 2,550 yards and 20 touchdowns last season in addition to rushing for over 1,000 yards and 22 scores on the ground.  He also hit better than .400 as a baseball player.

Johnson is ranked 11th overall among quarterbacks according to the 247 sports composite rankings and No. 152 overall. According to the On3 consensus, he’s 227th and 12th among quarterbacks because On3 doesn’t have him ranked right now which is strange.

Kansas State has the lone crystal ball projection right now but Oregon is also in the mix and will be hosting him for an official visit in June. Notre Dame is also lurking in this recruitment as is Washington.

Should Michigan get involved?

My answer is yes. It’s clear that the Wolverines are interested in dual-threat options at quarterback and Johnson fits the bill more than Dante Moore, who Michigan seems to be trailing with anyway.

Offering Johnson doesn’t mean you back off Moore. Yet, it sounds like Johnson wants to make a decision this summer, so the Wolverines will need to make a move quickly.

A year ago, they watched Jayden Denegal throw and within days, he was committed. I don’t see that happening here, but Johnson is a legit top-10 caliber quarterback and if Michigan is going to miss on Moore, he would be an ideal fallback option.