3 thoughts on Andrew Babalola's commitment to Michigan football

It's been a rough few weeks for the Michigan football program. The Wolverines have lost two games in a row and suddenly, sitting at 4-3, the 2024 season feels like an afterthought.

There are major questions about the future of the Michigan football program. But one thing that can answer some of those questions is adding talent like Andrew Babalola, which the Wolverines did on Monday, beating out teams like Auburn, Oklahoma, and Stanford.

The 6-foot-6, 280-pound offensive tackle is out of Overland Park, Kansas. Sherrone Moore is also from Kansas and maybe that helped in the end. The former offensive lineman turned head coach landed his first five-star and the first five-star commitment since Will Johnson in 2022.

Here are three thoughts on a massive commitment for Michigan football.

A commitment at just the right time

Perception is reality in college football. The Wolverines aren't playoff contenders and another top-100 commitment of Michigan football is in danger of being flipped -- there is more than one actually as Ivan Taylor and Andrew Olesh are each flip targets of other teams.

imagine losing two straight games and then losing one or two of your top-ranked commitments. That woud have been rough. It could still happen but Babalola stems the tide and adds some very real momentum for the 2025 class.

Michigan football's 2025 class is ranked 14th according to the 247 Sports composite rankings. They have 17 commitments and 13 of them are blue-chip prospects. Four of them are ranked in the top 100 and six in the top 150 including QB Carter Smith.

There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about what we have seen this season on the field, but Sherrone Moore is on the verge of a solid first class and he didn't have a full cycle to put it together.

Adding a huge talent to the trenches

When it has been three years since you have landed a five-star prospect, it doesn't matter what position, but outside of quarterback, there's nothing I love more than a 5-star lineman, on either side of the ball.

Babalola is the highest-rated offensive line recruit committed to Michigan football in the rankings era. Babalola is a raw prospect still. But he's got all the tools to become a first-round pick.

When you add Babalola to the current room with Andrew Sprague, Blake Frazier, and others, it's easy to feel good about the offensive tackle room in the future. Avery Gach and Kaden Strayhorn make for a really good three-man class.

You still have to develop that talent though. Babalola said he believes in Moore's vision for Michigan football but the Wolverines have to show they can develop young talent better than they have this season at least.

Hopefully this is the start of a strong close

There have been a ton of rumors about fireworks for Michigan football recruiting. Some have been speculating that the Wolverines could have a chance to flip five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood.

I didn't really buy it. But there definitely seems to be more NIL money floating around. Babalola didn't make NIL as big of a priority according to EJ Holland of The Wolverine. That's one reason why Michigan was able to beat out Auburn and Oklahoma.

Stanford was the favorite for a long time so it's clear Babalola was attracted to the academics, as well as the football side of things. He even called Michigan and "O-line factory" in the past.

Hopefully, that still proves to be true and my hope is that this is the start of a strong close. Even if Michigan football just held its own commitments, I'd be happy. But the Wolverines are pushing for some flips -- more realistic than flipping Underwood. So it feels like more could be coming.

This class has some cornerstone pieces (if they can keep them all) and Babalola is one of them.