3 thoughts on huge commitments, No. 1 ranking for Michigan Football

Michigan football landed two huge commitments on Tuesday and here are three thoughts on the Wolverines’ newest pledges, as well as the No. 1 ranking in the 2024 class.

It was another great day to be a Wolverine on the recruiting trail as Michigan football landed not just one, but two four-star prospects on Tuesday.

The first commitment came from in-state tight end Brady Prieskorn and it’s huge for Michigan football.

The Wolverines like to say that the best players from Michigan play at Michigan and that’s true of Prieskorn who is ranked 2nd in the state in 2024 and 56th overall via the 247 Sports composite rankings.

The 6-foot-6, 225-pounder is a beast. He moves like a wide receiver but isn’t like one and watching him in the Michigan football offense is going to be fun.

The Wolverines weren’t done though. After landing one of the elite prospects in the state of Michigan and a third top-100 commitment in 2024, U-M landed four-star defensive lineman Jerod Smith, a guy that was a Notre Dame lean not long ago.

To top it all off, Michigan football, which has 14 total commitments, including 11 blue-chips (4-star or higher) and three in the top 100, is now No. 1 in the 2024 team rankings.

Things have come a long way in the past year and here are three thoughts on Tuesday’s commitment, as well as the 2024 class as a whole.

The best players in Michigan play for Michigan

Winning in-state recruiting battles are always more important and with Prieskorn, this commitment felt inevitable for a while. Michigan State didn’t have a chance in hell.

The Wolverines didn’t get the top-ranked player in the state in CJ Carr, but they landed five-star QB Jadyn Davis instead. Davis is ranked higher, so that was a win.

Jacob Oden is the No. 5 player in the state in the 2024 class, so Michigan football already has two of the top five committed and Jeremiah Beasley is starting to get crystal balls for Michigan too.

Nick Marsh just decommitted from Michigan State and the Wolverines could have a shot with him too. Yes, Michigan football missed on Dante Moore in 2023, but the Wolverines also landed Donovan Edwards (2021) and Will Johnson (2022).

Getting Prieskorn was a recruiting win on par with those and the in-state recruiting momentum doesn’t look like it will slow down anytime soon.

Michigan won’t finish ranked No. 1 in the 2024 class, but it doesn’t matter

The way Michigan football recruited in 2023, fresh off a playoff appearance, made you wonder if NIL was really going to hinder the Wolverines.

Then, you wondered how much of it was Jim Harbaugh and his flirtations with the NFL. Both of those things likely impacted the 2023 class, along with losing two coordinators.

However, things are cooking now and it’s hard to believe we were ever worried about the direction of Michigan football recruiting.

The culture is strong and that culture is translating to the trail. Recruits are already becoming like family and all four guys that took the picture a few weeks ago posted on social media — Jadyn Davis, Jordan Marshall, Blake Frazier, and Prieskorn — are all Wolverines now.

Georgia will probably wind up with the top recruiting class when it’s all said and done, but who cares? This class has a five-star quarterback, three top-100 commitments, and a bunch of really talented players that fit this program like a glove.

Jerod Smith will get lost in the shuffle, but he’s a four-star that was a Notre Dame lean along with his brother. Now, the Wolveines could land both. Jacod Smith, Jerod’s brother, is a four-star EDGE and just had Michigan in his recently released top six.

Regardless of where things end up, the blue-chip ratio (11/14) is off the charts and this class is going to set the Wolverines up for success well into the future.

In other words, Michigan football isn’t going anywhere.

What’s next?

Michigan is expected to add another commitment this week from three-star center Jake Guarnera. He’s ranked 523rd overall but I really like his game and think this will be another really solid addition to the offensive line.

Michigan is in the mix for Brandon Baker, the No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2024 class. He recently visited campus and an official visit could be possible.

Beasley is a name we mentioned, he picked up a new crystal ball projection for the Wolverines from Steve Wiltfong. That followed another earlier this month from Steve Lorez of The Michigan Insider.

Marsh is another name to watch, along with running back Taylor Tatum, another highly-touted back (out-of-state) that has the Wolverines in his top group.

This program has a ton of momentum and it’s going to be fun to see where things go from here. I’ve also enjoyed seeing Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State fans eat crow.