Michigan Football Recruiting: Where Wolverines Stand with Five Stars

With the recruiting dead period set to end, it's time to talk about recruiting again. With Sherrone Moore leading Michigan football, recruiting has been at the top of many fan's minds. There is a general belief that recruiting will be better under Moore due to his aggressive recruiting technique, but that obviously remains to be seen.

NIL remains a big question mark for the Wolverines. It seems like Michigan football has upped its NIL game, but it's still unclear if that's going to affect recruits; much of Michigan's efforts have been directed toward player retention, not player acquisition. Coach Moore understands the importance of NIL in today's recruiting world, so hopefully we will see positive changes on that end.

While Michigan football recently was left off of the top six of David Sanders, the Wolverines are still shooting their shot with multiple other five stars. With that being said, let's check in on some five-star recruits that Michigan is actively pursuing, and look at where the Wolverines currently stand.

1. Safety DJ Pickett (FL)

This may be the biggest recruitment of the 2025 cycle. Pickett is the #1 safety in the country and is a Florida native. He recently released a top five with Michigan, Georgia, Oregon, LSU, and Miami. At first glance, this doesn't seem great for Michigan, as the other schools in the top five are known NIL powerhouses.

However, Michigan has connections here. Pickett has family in the Detroit area, and his mother attended Michigan. While losing Steve Clinkscale definitely hurts Michigan here, there's no doubt in my mind that new DBs coach Lamar Morgan is going to be on the phone with Pickett ASAP building a relationship.

If Morgan can build that relationship, Michigan football should be near the top for Pickett. While it's too early to tell, Michigan is in a solid position here.