Michigan Football's 2017 Class Was Best In-State Haul Of Rivals Era

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An easy argument can be made that Michigan's 2017 recruiting class featured its best in-state haul of the Rivals.com era, which dates back to 2002. First, an overall look at the native signing classes of the last 16 years, and then the path we took to our conclusion:

During the Rivals.com era, the state of Michigan has never featured multiple five-star recruits in the same class. Therefore, step one to determining the Wolverines' best in-state class ever inked is if they signed the state's lone five star; that has happened six times — 2017, 2009, 2006, 2005, 2003 and 2002. There have only been four instances where the state boasted a five-star talent and he did not end up in Ann Arbor.

Never has Michigan's top-ranked in-state signee been ranked higher nationally than early enrollee wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones in this year's class, who checked in at No. 12 of Rivals' national rankings. The state's top-ranked player — regardless of where he ended up — hasn't been listed as high as Peoples-Jones since 2007, when USC-bound wideout Ronald Johnson was rated No. 8 by Rivals.

Although there have never been multiple five-star prospects from one class that called Michigan home, the Great Lakes State has produced its fair share of four stars. Eight out of the 15 times the state's total number of such seniors is available (most of the data from the 2002 class, except for the Rivals100, is not accessible), U-M has signed at least half of them — 2017 (3/6), 2013 (5/7), 2012 (4/7), 2011 (3/6), 2008 (4/8), 2005 (2/2), 2004 (3/5) and 2003 (3/6).

With so many instances of that happening, one way to pare down the list is times where U-M has signed multiple natives ranked inside the Rivals250. Years that Michigan did both of these include 2017 (Nos. 12, 146 and 222), 2013 (Nos. 81, 131 and 165), 2012 (Nos. 172, 184, 224 and 236), 2011 (Nos. 85 and 201), 2008 (Nos. 44, 49 and 193), 2005 (Nos. 22, 49, 96) and 2003 (Nos. 14 and 89).

At this point, there are only three classes that have met all three criteria so far, which shows the in-state signees boast both top-end talent but also a depth of high-level natives: 2017, 2005 and 2003.

Four more classes met the latter two criteria, but did not boast a five star that hailed from within the state's borders — 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2008. It is worth noting that the 2008 class does share a distinction with two of the three groups that have met all criteria to this point — it included a pair of Rivals100 prospects (Nos. 44 and 49).

The 2017, 2005 and 2003 in-state hauls have checked off every box discussed so far, distancing themselves from the other classes of the past 15 years for Michigan's best group of native signees. Each includes at least three four- and five-star prospects from within the state's borders (the same is true of the 2002 group, but we have incomplete information on them, which is why above we said of the last 15, and not 16, years).

To make a distinction between the final three, we'll take the Rivals.com state rankings into account. Michigan has signed the No. 11 player in the state several times, and in most cycles there is minimal difference between the No. 10 and No. 11 native, so we included the top 11, instead of the top 10, in this part.

The only class that can compete with this year's group — which secured seven of the state's top 11 — in terms of sheer numbers is 2012, when the Wolverines inked seven of the top 11, plus No. 12. However, the state did not have a five-star prospect that year and that crew of signees lacked a prospect ranked among the nation's top 150, although it did feature four ranked between No. 172 and 236 nationally (it is the only in-state U-M class with four members of the Rivals250). Still, the top-end talent was missing, which is why it was eliminated earlier in this study.

The 2005 class featured four of the state's top 11 (and five of the top 12), while the 2003 haul boasted five of the top 11. Those crews do have an argument to make since they featured multiple signees among the nation's top 100, but they don't have the same overall depth. The high-end talent in those classes didn't really work out either (although this is going beyond the recruiting rankings, which obviously isn't possible for the most recent classes).

From 2005, only defensive tackle Terrance Taylor (No. 3 in the state, No. 96 nationally) was among U-M highest-ranked signees from Michigan and got drafted, but he never played a game in the league. The other top recruits from the state that signed with Michigan that year included five-star running back Kevin Grady (No. 1 in Michigan, No. 22 nationally) and four-star athlete Antonio Bass (No. 2, No. 49).

Contrastingly, the 2003 crew featured four-star offensive tackle Jake Long, who was ranked by Rivals as the state's sixth-best prospect (and not ranked nationally) but went on to become the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft and a four-time Pro Bowler, and five-star linebacker LaMarr Woodley, the state's top recruit and No. 14 prospect nationally who was a second-round pick of the Steelers and played nine seasons in the league while making one Pro Bowl.

The opposite results from the 2005 and 2003 classes that were both highly ranked show that no recruiting class can be fully analyzed until four or five years after its National Signing Day, but the 2017 unit may be starting in a better position than any other in-state group before, thanks to the presence of high-level talent and depth of four-star prospects.

In addition to Peoples-Jones, who was unanimously ranked among the top 26 prospects nationally by all four major recruiting services, here are the Rivals' state rankings of the 2017 group with some additional information on each that goes beyond simply the Rivals rankings:

• No. 2 Ambry Thomas (four-star CB, No. 146 nationally; unanimous four star and top-200 signee by all four major recruiting services)

• No. 3 Joshua Ross (four-star LB, No. 222 nationally; unanimous four star and top-250 recruit by all four major recruiting services)

• No. 7 Corey Malone-Hatcher (four-star DE, not ranked in the top 250 nationally by Rivals, but a four-star recruit and top-300 prospect by the other three major recruiting services)

• No. 8 Jaylen Kelly-Powell (three-star safety by Rivals, but a four-star recruit and top-300 senior nationally by the other three major recruiting services)

• No. 10 Phillip Paea (three-star OL by three of the four major services; a four star by ESPN)

• No. 11 Deron Irving-Bey (three-star DE, but a four-star prospect and top-300 signee nationally by the other three major recruiting services)

• No. 17 Ja'Raymond Hall (three-star OT by Rivals, but he is ranked a four-star signee by two of the other three major recruiting services)

• Additionally, the top four players in the state according to the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press are unanimously as follows: 1. Peoples-Jones, 2. Thomas, 3. Ross, 4. Kelly-Powell. The Detroit Free Press also ranked Malone-Hatcher fifth, Irving-Bey sixth, Paea ninth and Hall 12th. Meanwhile, the Detroit News ranked Malone-Hatcher eighth, Irving-Bey 10th, Paea 11th and Hall 13th.

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