This is our sticky recruiting board for 2024. When Alex or I finish a major update, it will be reposted to the top of the site. Otherwise it will be under the "Useful Stuff" tab. We'll try to update it whenever a recruiting update is published, but expect just two or three repostings over the course of the cycle.

January 2023 (launch): Our annual exercise is less useful than normal because of the unknowns around Michigan recruiting. A year from now their NIL program could be as competitive as any in the country, with their coaching situation solidified for the foreseeable future and the program coming off another championship and playoff run. They could also be back where they were for the start of the 2023 class, with all of the momentum of their recent success at a standstill while Harbaugh interviews for NFL jobs. That's where they are now, though the read on that situation is the smoke is all coming from Harbaugh's agent to pressure Michigan into a new contract. Hopefully they get that done, and long-term security is a major feature of it. For now, recruiting momentum has come to a dead stop. That does at least afford us an opportunity to take a snapshot of their efforts before the class really starts to take shape.

The Guys:

The order of these faces are based on how likely the given player is to end up at Michigan and how high of a priority this player is. A couple notes I've copied and pasted from our 2022 board:

A Note on "Stars": These are a general (not exact) average of a player's status among the recruiting services.

A Note on Premium Info: No illicit sharing of said material will appear on this site. Players are listed with interested schools in their profiles; this information is public. Commitments are by definition public. Any assertions as to schools in the mix, decision dates, or leaders we will back up with links to the source of the information.

A Note on Needs and Scholarship Numbers: We're largely ignoring the 85-man limit these days because NIL can cover the cost of attendance for any player, e.g. a transfer, not subject to the rules governing scholarships for recruits who go through the process (see "blueshirting"). Expect Michigan's class to be between 23 and 28 players as usual.

Quarterback

Needs: 2. It's time to reload. Actually 2023 was the time to reload but they bet it all on Dante Moore and whiffed. JJ McCarthy could be a top NFL draft pick in 2024, and is gone by 2025 regardless. Michigan's options past him right now are walk-on Davis Warren and three low-profile projects, two of whom might not end up as quarterbacks. Michigan's post-JJ plans will almost certainly include finding a floor in the portal, but now that they're well out of JJ's shadow they should also be a major player in the 5-star market.

Latest (January 2023): At the same time they lost Moore, Lloyd Carr's grandson chose Notre Dame(!!!). All eggs are now in the Jadyn Davis basket if they have to invite Davis's entire high school team along with him. That looks promising; the dual-threat playmaker seems set to announce this month. That's on hold until Harbaugh's figured out.

Best Guess: Davis, a second QB to develop that they found along the way, and/or a portal acquisition.

[AFTER THE JUMP: Many more small animated faces]

Running Back

Needs: 2. Corum and Edwards are going to be in the NFL sooner or later, and Michigan's on-campus options were so thin they were handing off to converted LB Kalel Mullings in the Fiesta Bowl. Even if Cole Cabana's the next Edwards, this position's in need of a major reload, with immediate playing time available for a 5-star. Would prefer a pair.

Latest (January 2023): Michigan's Ohio Strategy will get its first major test as they go toe-to-toe with Ohio State for Jordan Marshall, who grew up an Ohio State fan, but they were (are always) slow to offer a local. Their other top target is Taylor Tatum, an elite with academic offers who also plays baseball. After that it's pretty nebulous. EJ Holland has been loudly critical of Mike Hart's recruiting efforts now that he's in a third cycle without Michigan appearing to be a major player for national elites. There's probably something to that; there's a wider net cast this fall but Michigan has been mentioned rarely by many of those they've offered. Considering how much they feature their RBs and the state of the depth chart after the stars Jay Harbaugh recruited to the position, you would think they'd have better options.

2025 thing: Michigan is recruiting 2025 OH 3* Bo Jackson (YTBJ).

Best Guess: Way too early to tell, especially given the nature of the Marshall battle. Second (or first) back will be a guy Hart really likes.

Wide Receiver

Needs: 3. Michigan is coming off of a great class and a good class, but you need receivers every year. Would like to get at least one difference-maker.

Latest (January 2023): Ron Bellamy has been one of Michigan's best recruiters and once again has them in good shape with some national names. Unfortunately a handful of early scouts have since blown up into NIL battles that I'm leaving off the board, but they're close to locking up a full class anyways. That starts with high-4* I'Marion Stewart, who plays at Bolingbrook (where Todd Howard's from/used to coach). Jadyn Davis has two Power 5-caliber teammates in Channing Goodwin (athletic and fast) and Jordan Shipp (large & leapy). As for elites, Michigan put it itself in a strong position with elite Ryan Wingo, whose brother played at Arkansas when Ben Herbert was there. However Wiltfong has a crystal ball in for Tennessee as of early November and the top of his list has a lot of the other pay-for-play leaders like Notre Dame, Oregon, A&M, and Miami on it. Also Jay Harbaugh went out to Idaho again and has a receiver version of Colston Loveland highly interested.

Best Guess: Stewart, Bair, Goodwin, and Wingo if they can get him, Shipp if they can't.

Tight End

Needs: 2-3. Two keeps the train a-rolling, but may take 3 this cycle since so many departed and Loveland will be an NFL candidate after '24. 

Latest (January 2023): Unsurprisingly Michigan is a destination for national tight ends now. Rochester Adams's Brady Prieskorn would have been a top target if he wasn't local, and other schools seem to be giving up. Four-star Hogan Hansen (no relation to Lou) out of Washington was an early commit and oddly for a high schooler comes with mostly blocking bona fides. Who's the third then? They're heavy in the market for the elite Loveland types, recently jumping into the fray for Nebraska star Carter Nelson, whom Nebraska, Auburn, and Notre Dame all see as a priority. They may have done themselves a favor by pulling out early from IL 5* Christian Bentancur's recruitment because since then their top target, because their iron has remained hotter for 6'7" Georgian Walter Matthews, who talks to Michigan often, and who's probably going to be hearing more from Bentancur's failed suitors soon.

Best Guess: Prieskorn/Hansen would be a great class but this is Harbaugh's Michigan so you know there's going to be an athlete or two they're looking at down the stretch as well. They could get Nelson, or it could be a guy we haven't mentioned yet.

Offensive Line

Needs: 4-6. Michigan wanted to bring in a huge 2023 class but missed out on a lot of the guys Sherrone Moore targeted, and filled with the portal. It's long past time to get some elite tackles in the pipeline, as well as a center of the future.

Latest (January 2023): Once again Moore is shooting his shot with elites and finding himself in battles that an all-out effort is 20% likely to win. Some of their best guards are already off the board but they're in good shape for top tackle prospect Andrew Sprague, and are going to stay in the fight for Massachusetts's Guerby Lambert. The floor here is they clean up in the Western Cleveland suburbs, where they already have a pledge from mauling G/T Luke Hamilton, strong interest from St Edwards mauling G/T Ben Roebuck, and twins Devontae and Deontae Armstrong, who'd be more developmental prospects. If you remember Steve Frazier, a swingman from the Griese/Brady era, his son Blake is a track athlete down in Texas. Michigan's also fighting Penn State and Notre Dame for the tops of their boards, and sent out a bunch of offers when junior tape came in this fall. There are a few longtime targets hanging on the board who go back to Warinner; I've dropped those who haven't had a Michigan article since last spring, but a few came to the BBQ.

I also want to mention Michigan is also in great shape with 2025 MI 4* Avery Gach, who would be the first scholarship football player from my alma mater, and the first FBS athlete to ever come through my mother-in-law's preschool.

Part of the issue here is OL take a long time to develop so they want stability, and it's widely believed Sherrone Moore is close to becoming a Power 5 head coach candidate. His near term presence has made them bonkers at recruiting from the portal; the question of his long-term presence is what's holding back his freshman recruiting. It would take naming Moore as Harbaugh's successor or something to change that, but Michigan's back-to-back Moore awards and developmental success have affected this class more than the last one, so there's a good chance they win a few recruitments they get into late.

Best Guess: Hamilton, Roebuck, and Frazier, hopefully Sprague, and then either they win some battles with PSU et al. or take the Armstrong twins.

Edge

Needs: 2-3. Would love to get an elite instant-impact pass-rusher. Coaches say to count Chibi Anwunah among their 2022 haul, but he's not the only high ceiling with a lot of development on the roster, and 2023s Breeon Ishmail and Aymeric Koumba are probably further from seeing the field than Chibi. If they whiff on the readier prospects expect them to expand the field and take a few more shots at a diamond in the rough.

Latest (January 2023): It's hard to get instant impact guys but there's an opportunity for an elite rusher to get on the field early, and M is out there pitching that to a lot of guys who are probably going to cut their lists to a bunch of SEC or up-front NIL schools soon. Ernest Willor is the white whale they have the best shot with. On the next tier, their attention to Ohio got them out in front on Brian Robinson, who's likely to be their hybrid since OSU's waited too long. They're also in good shape with Dylan Stephenson, though they have to survive a lot of Southern attention for the Floridian. Right now they're mostly focusing on those two and seeing what fruit their other offers bear.

Note: Michigan State made an excellent hire last year in Brandon Jordan ("Coach BT") who used to train a bunch of elite NFL names, and that has put State on the map for a lot of guys Michigan's offered. It may work out for us since Coach BT isn't long for MSU, and a lot of them visited Ann Arbor on their way, but for now there are a lot of names who might normally not be coming up here but made the list because they visited.

Best Guess: Robinson as their hybrid type, and they'll fight for Stephenson all cycle and see where they stand this summer. Probably 1 or 2 guys not yet on this list whom they think they can develop.

Defensive Tackle

Needs: 2-3 depending on how they finish in 2023. Michigan's in on a couple more DTs this class, and has a very good young core, so they can afford to be picky. They're also close to filling this class anyways.

Latest (January 2023): They think they have a dude in Beigel, but nobody has any scouting on the German immigrant who will be playing at Choate in Connecticut. If Michigan's among the elite by the end of this cycle they have a good shot at landing super 5-star Justin Scott as long as he (as people think) stays in the Midwest. Past that they've been working forever on Eddie Tuerk, who was shaping up to be one of those Michigan-Illinois battles until Illinois lost his recruiter. Michigan also put out a out round of offers to select players based on junior film who've had their rankings/offers blow up since.

Best Guess: Tuerk and Beigel and a nose. They end up a hat on Scott's table unless Ohio State or Notre Dame really start to unravel.

Linebacker

Needs: 2-3. Michigan finally has a solid two-deep and solid future with Hausmann and Rolder coming up behind Barrett, Colson, and NHG. They took two or three depending on how you categorize ATH Jason Hewlett, who might be a LB or a hybrid safety or even grow into an LB/DE type. Two ILBs and an athletic freak for hybrid seems like the norm now.

Latest (January 2023): Michigan got an early commitment from 4-star Mason Curtis, who fits a lot of the things this staff looks for (length, versatility). They were in early for national #1 LB Sammy Brown and will shoot their shot, but everyone is coming for Brown. They also highly value Kris Jones, but again there's quite a battle to be fought for a nationally renowned athlete. They've had more success with Anthony Speca, a classic Michigan-Notre Dame battle where Tom Loy has a high-confidence crystal ball in and Michigan reporters think if the cycle ended today Speca would be a Wolverine. For the hybrid spot, they're in another classic three-way fight with ND and PSU for Quinton Martin, who like Michael Barrett out of high school could project to RB or safety or LB or in between. MSU is probably going to get Beasley unless Michigan decides to push. Andrew Hines seems like the kind of football/academics type who'd love Michigan; he has a bunch of academics on his list, but it's not yet clear how hard Michigan's pursuing.

Best Guess: To get one of Jones and Chiles plus Curtis would be an amazing haul. They'll probably get one of the guys they're fighting with Notre Dame for instead, or else go bargain hunting again.

Cornerback & Nickel

Needs: 3-5. Not only does Michigan have three of these guys on the field at once, Will Johnson looks like a 3-and-out, and Jyaire Hill probably isn't redshirting. It's hard to tell what they have on the roster because Michigan had German Green and walk-on Keshaun Harris on the field this year while redshirting last year's freshmen. Time to load up, and preferably with at least one elite who can help them in 2024 and step in for Johnson in 2025.

Latest (January 2023): Michigan's in very good shape with a number of highly rated targets, and in a battle for some higher ones, but not in for any 5-stars save a long longshot. They're closest to landing Jacob Oden, an M-MSU battle that seems to favor Michigan. They also see Jalen Todd out of Southfield as a take, and while he's probably going to get more offers soon it's a good bet he's in the class. Clinkscale has also picked some fights--Michigan has been at Glenville trying to convince Bryce West, the kind of guy who usually goes to Ohio State out of hand, that Michigan's moved into the top spot permanently. Boo Carter is an athlete coveted by a lot of teams, and some NIL programs are shooting their money cannons, but as long as the house is in order it's between playing Nickel for Michigan and RB for Ohio State, a decision that seems to favor Michigan. Omillio Agard was a PSU-Michigan battle that the SEC is horning in on. If Michigan can't secure 4 guys from the above they have several options nearby they've kept their eyes on.

Best Guess: A win for Bryce West would be huge, but a class of Oden, Carter, and Todd plus one sounds about right.

Safety

Needs: 1-2. Michigan reeled in an excellent safety class in 2022 and redshirted all of them, but their 2023 class was one guy or no guys depending on if you classify DJ Waller as a cornerback (M will start him there), so the starters after the .

Latest (January 2023): Note that some of the guys on their CB board might also be safeties. The one definite safety Michigan looks to be in very good shape with is Ricardo Jones, a typical Michigan-Notre Dame battle where Michigan has more cards. They also have a very empty board right now, which might be part of the pitch to Jones. Boo Carter might also classify here, and the same goes for Kyan McDonald, an undersized prospect who might have been leaning Michigan earlier in the cycle--Michigan was in on him early--but now has a lot of interest from Oregon. Jay Harbaugh has historically recruited his positions better than anyone could hope for, and often turns up dudes that nobody else heard of until too late. If there's one in this class it's Caleb Benning, a Nebraskan whose listed size is reportedly outdated, as is the Nebraska-Iowa battle he was going to be.

Best Guess: Jones and one more. I think everyone expects Bolden to end up at Georgia, but you should also expect Jay Harbaugh to turn up some athletes.

Specialist

Needs: Zero or 1. The Pax Specialistica has ended but Michigan seems pretty confident in Tommy Doman, their 2021, and Adam Samaha, their 2023. Might skip a year and get another in 2025 but they'll take a guy if they spot a Jake Moody abouts.

Latest (January 2023): Iowan Drew Miller has been on campus.

Best Guess: Not this year.

REVISIONS LIST

• 1/10/23: Launched (Seth)