3 thoughts on Jacob Smith’s commitment to Michigan Football

Michigan football has landed another blue-chip EDGE rusher in the 2024 class with the commitment of Jacob Smith and here are three thoughts. 

Earlier this week, four-star EDGE Jacob Smith’s commitment to Michigan football seemed like a done deal. All of the crystal balls and expert projections were pointing in that direction.

Once Smith had a commitment date announced, it felt like the final nail in the coffin. However, on Wednesday, there was a slight shakeup as Smith told some reporters he wasn’t going to announce on Thursday after all.

But whether it was a head fake or the Michigan football staff just did some stellar work in the backgrounds to shore things up, Smith announced his pledge to Michigan football on Thursday afternoon, and here are three thoughts for the Wolverines.

Another big-time EDGE

Michigan football doesn’t have any top-100 prospects committed at the position, but you have to feel good about the fact that Smith is the fourth four-star composite EDGE recruit to commit to Michigan in the 2024 class.

Mike Elston is tremendous at evaluations and also in terms of development. Mason Graham, Derrick Moore, and Kenneth Grant were great examples of that.

Grant and Graham were three-star recruits prior to their commitments. Now, they are looking like guys that should have been ranked much, much higher.

Michigan football has that impact on players. The strength and development portion of the program is key, but in Smith, the Wolverines are getting a guy with a Big Ten body (6-foot-4, 230).

And when you add him in with the group of Devon Baxter, Dominic Nichols, and Elias Rudolph, you have to feel really good about the EDGE group in 2024.

Beating out key rivals for a win

Jacob Smith and his brother were considered Notre Dame leans at one point before Michigan football was able to get them on campus and flip things around in their recruitments.

Jerod Smith wound up committing before he even took an official visit. That allowed Jacob, his twin, to visit Michigan football twice in June since he was part of his brother’s visit.

Nebraska was the biggest threat near the end. Matt Rhule and company impressed Smith on his official visit. I was sort of concerned when he announced he was going to delay things but maybe he had an issue announcing it on 247 Sports.

You never really know when it comes to recruiting. It seems like Nebraska gave him something to think about, however, playing for EDGE U and having a shot to play for championships right away feels like it was a big factor.

A blue-chip ratio check

The blue-chip ratio in 2022 was below 50 percent and that’s not acceptable for Michigan football recruiting, especially after two consecutive Big Ten championships.

This 2024 class doesn’t have any five-star prospects. There are some players I would consider to be elite such as Jadyn Davis, Jordan Marshall, and others.

But if Michigan football is going to consistently compete against Alabama and Georgia, it needs to figure out how to land more of those five-star prospects.

However, with 19 blue-chip commitments according to the 247 Sports composite rankings, Michigan football should easily finish in the top 10 for this class, and with its proven ability to develop talent, that should be more than enough to work with.