What’s the Ceiling of the 2024 Michigan Football Recruiting Class?

Michigan football’s 2024 recruiting class has been in the top 5 for months, but what is the realistic ceiling?

Recruiting has not been very nice to Michigan football lately. After a thrilling 4/5ths of June, things really took a turn for the worst, with many top prospects committing elsewhere. None hurt more than Justin Scott’s surprise commitment to Ohio State.

But, that’s recruiting. You can go from the highest high to the lowest low in just a short span. Yes, these losses hurt a lot. Michigan football would’ve loved to add Scott, Jordon Johnson-Rubell, Jameer Grimsley, or a handful of other prospects who committed elsewhere. But Michigan football still has a top-five class in the nation, and it’s only July.

Now that the Wolverines have come back down to Earth, what is a realistic ceiling for the 2024 class? With many top prospects off the board or making their decision soon, this is an important question to consider.

Outside of the Top 3

Unfortunately, it’s very improbable that Michigan football will have a top-three class. If there’s ever going to be a year for that, it’s going to be the 2025 class. While they won’t have a top-three class, it’s realistic to say that Michigan could finish in or near the top five.

It’s likely that Michigan football will pursue some new recruits during the season, which they’ve had a lot of success with in the past. Michigan is a hot destination when issues arise at other schools. Think Derrick Moore from Oklahoma or Keon Sabb from Clemson.

If I had to guess, I would put the Wolverines somewhere between five and seven. I think 30+ commitments will give Michigan a boost in the rankings, and I also expect them to land more high-end talent as the season progresses.

Who are the big fish remaining?

The Wolverines are still in hot pursuit of a couple of top 100 recruits that could help keep their class near the top five. The most notable names are Gatlin Bair, Aaron Scott, Zaquan Patterson, and Bennett Warren.

As of now, it looks like Michigan football needs to land at least two of these four to have a significant chance of ending up near the top five. The Wolverines appear to lead for Bair, with the other three battles looking like coin tosses at the moment.

We should know more about where the Wolverines stand with their top targets as we approach the end of July. Michigan will host their annual BBQ at the Big House at the end of the month, and they’ll be pushing for their top targets to be there.

The BBQ could be a huge momentum boost for the Wolverines if they can get at least one of these targets there for it.

This class does have the potential to be at or near the top five in the country, as it should. It’ll be interesting to watch how the Wolverines do with their remaining top targets, considering they’ve lost many battles recently. Stay tuned, and go blue!