3 thoughts on commitment of Elijah Dotson to Michigan football

Michigan football fans are holding out hope that the Wolverines will be able to flip five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood, but on Wednesday, the Wolveines did pull off a flip of Underwood's teammate, four-star defensive back Elijah Dotson.

Even though Dotson is on the same team as Underwood, this commitment means a lot more than that. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound defensive back is ranked No. 191 overall in the 2025 class according to the 247 Sports composite rankings. He's also ranked second in the state in the 2025 class.

Dotson could end up being one of the most underrated commitments in the 2025 class for the Wolverines and here are three thoughts on his flip from Pittsburgh.

Making up for the loss of Ivan Taylor

Michigan football lost a versatile defender in Taylor, who flipped his commitment from Michigan football to Alabama earlier this week. Dotson has similar size and he's also a jack-of-all-trades.

Dotson has played cornerback, safety, receiver, and wildcat cornerback. He has even been used as a return man for Belleville. Michigan will be able to take advantage of that versatility and honestly, it sounds like Dotston would be a great nickel down the road. He's got great size, good ball skills, and is used to coming up into the box and making a play.

How Elijah Dotson fit with Michigan football?

Dotson should fit perfectly in the Michigan football defense. Whether he ends up playing nickel -- due to his ability to cover wide receivers and tight ends in the slot -- or he ends up playing a true free safety role -- his ability to do it all is going to play dividends for this defense.

The bottom line is that you can't afford to have any defensive back on the field if they can't cover. That applies to cornerback and safety. You need guys who can cover and tackle in space and Dotson fits the mold.

I also love the fact that he was committed to Pittsburgh for so long. Pat Narduzzi was always really good at evaluating quality defensive backs, so I take the commitment to the Panthers as a stamp of approval.

This isn't about Bryce Underwood but it can't hurt

Bryce Underwood did have a positive reaction on social media to Dotson flipping his commitment to Michigan football. However, I wouldn't confuse that to mean anything. High school teammates are going to be happy for each other.

They want to see each other get recruited and get scholarships. Yet, in the grand scheme of things, it can't hurt to have one of his teammates committed and recruiting him to Michigan.

The familiarity could help and beyond all that, Dotson is an elite player (top-200) that Michigan football should want in the 2025 recruiting class regardless.