Michigan Wolverines news: Projected flips, latest on a blue-chip QB target, and more

Kentucky is projected to flip a pair of Michigan football commitments, the latest on Ryan Montgomery, and more Michigan Wolverines news.  

The recent stretch for Michigan football recruiting has been less than ideal. The Michigan Wolverines have missed on a number of key targets and had a four-star EDGE rusher flip to Miami over the weekend.

That was a blow. There are rumors that Michigan football is going to try and get Elias Rudolph back into the 2024 class, but that’s hard to see happening.

What’s even worse is that Kentucky is now trending hard to flip both Jacob Smith and Jerod Smith. The twins are each four-star recruits according to the 247 Sports composite rankings for the 2024 class.

Michigan football landed the commitment of Jerod in April, followed by Jacob in July. However, both players have moved to the state of Kentucky and all the Michigan recruiting reporters have projected the flips to happen at this point.

Can the Michigan Wolverines turn this around? At this point, a top-10 class is looking iffy and it’s clear that lack of NIL is still holding Michigan football back in a big way on the trail.

4-star QB has Michigan Wolverines in his top five

Every Michigan football fan that follows recruiting is hoping the Wolverines are able to land Bryce Underwood, the top-ranked quarterback in the country in the 2025 class.

Underwood is from Belleville and Michigan football is currently the favorite according to the On3 prediction machine. We also know things are fluid when it comes to recruiting.

So it’s good to have options and Ryan Montgomery is another solid option in the 2025 class. The Findlay, Ohio prospect included Michigan football in his top five on Monday. Ohio State didn’t crack the top five, but Florida, Penn State, Georgia, and South Carolina joined the Wolverines.

Montgomery has visited Michigan football a bunch of times. I believe if he was the No. 1 priority, the Wolverines would have a great chance to land his commitment, but they are going to see what happens with Underwood first.

Still, Montgomery is a name to know, because if Underwood doesn’t commit to Michigan football, there’s a good chance Montgomery could be the guy for U-M in the 2025 class.

More preseason watch lists for Michigan football

J.J. McCarthy was selected to the preseason watch list for the Manning Award, which is given out to the top quarterback in the nation. He was one of 33 selected.

The Lombardi Trophy, which goes out to the top lineman in the country, on offense or defense, included a few Michigan football nominees on its watch list: Kris Jenkins, Drake Nugent, Junior Colson, and Zak Zinter.

I’m not sure how Colson is being considered for the best lineman award when he’s a linebacker, but regardless he made the list and it’s just another sign of how deep and talented the Wolverines are heading into the 2023 season.