3 thoughts as Michigan football lands two commitments in 15 minutes

The recruiting fireworks continued for Michigan football on Friday, as the Wolverines landed two commitments in about 15 minutes.

We should clarify that these are public announcements. These recruits have probably been silently committed for longer. However, four-star offensive tackle Malakai Lee, a 6-foot-6, 318-pound blue-chip from Hawaii, pledged to Michigan football over other contenders such as Texas, Georgia, and Alabama on Friday night.

That wasn't the only recruiting win over the day, though. the Wolverines finished off the flip of three-star linebacker Markel Dabney, who was committed to SMU. Michigan has landed 10 commitments total this month and five this week alone.

According to Sherrone Moore's X account, more commitments are on the way. Dabney (6-1, 205) gives Michigan football 17 total commitments (long snapper included). He's ranked 807th overall, and the Wolverines are ranked 11th now in the 247 Sports team rankings for 2026.

Here are three thoughts on the latest commitments.

A massive recruiting win

Landing Lee was a huge recruiting win. He's not only a big dude at 6-6, 318 pounds, but the Wolverines had to beat out a trio of SEC teams to land his commitment.

Players from Hawaii are ofter underrated and under-scouted. Roman Wilson was and he ended up as a day-two pick. Lee is ranked 137th overall via the 247 Sports composite rankings. On3 ranks him in the top 100, which seems much more fitting.

Lee has 36-inch arms and an 84-inch wingspan. Lee has great feet, too. He could be a right or left tackle. With Andrew Babalola, Blake Frazier, Andrew Sprague, and Ty Haywood, Michigan is certainly set up well at offensive tackle well into the future.

An underrated flip

Dabney is a three-star recruit, but don't judge him based solely on that. He's an athlete who has played a lot of safety in high school and played well.

He's got good ball skills, is a good athlete, and a good tackler. The truth is that you can't land a top-100 recruit at every position, especially with an NIL budget.

You have to be choosy where you spend, but you also want to be smart about identifying underrated players. Dabney is one of those. SMU is the defending ACC champion. Penn State, Kentucky, and Pittsburgh were also in the mix.

Dabney has the size to be a linebacker. He also had over 1,000 yards as a receiver last season. He reminds me a little bit of Michael Barrett. This is an upside take, and you have to take some of those, but Michigan tends to hit on those more than others, and Dabney is a good candidate.

More commitments are coming

Michigan football fans have spent all week trying to figure out who head coach Sherrone Moore is talking about when he teases commitments with the "Yes Sir!" and the eyeball emoji.

Technically, there have been 10 eyeballs posted by Moore this week. One post had two eyeballs. We don't know if that's because Moore was really excited about one commit, or if U-M landed two.

Swanky Wolverine has been keeping track and believes there are two commitments left. Andre Clarke, the four-star defensive back from Virginia, ranked in the top 200, will decide on Monday. Travis Johnson is deciding on July 4th, while Donovan Webb is scheduled for July 2nd. Kenneth Goodwin, who will announce on July 1st, has also been trending to Michigan.

So it feels like more eyeball emojis will be on the way. For now, though, it feels like at least two more commitments are imminent for Michigan football in what has been one of the best recruiting runs in recent program history.

Top-50 recruits such as Savion Hiter, Calvin Russell, and Carter Meadows are all out there too. Michigan is at or near the top with each, so this class -- the ranking at least could go way up.