With 17 commitments in the fold, the Michigan Wolverines' 2021 football recruiting class is well over half finished and is shaping up to be one of the nation's best hauls so far.
Though the December signing period is still six and a half months away, it's never too early to start looking at some of the most interesting trends and statistics that are being compiled with U-M's 2021 class as a whole.
0 Prospects in the class who currently reside west of Bolingbrook, Ill., (three-star linebacker Tyler McLaurin currently plays at Bolingbrook High School) in the United States.
3 Of the Maize and Blue's seven four-star commits are offensive linemen in Sterling Heights (Mich.) Stevenson offensive tackle Giovanni El-Hadi, Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy offensive guard Greg Crippen and Detroit Cass Tech center Raheem Anderson, all of whom reside among the top 150 prospects nationally. U-M's offensive line haul is its strongest of any position and the club may not be done adding to it, still standing in decent shape with the likes of Clarkston (Mich.) High four-star offensive guard Rocco Spindler and Boston Noble and Greenough School four-star offensive guard Drew Kendall.
4 Commits who reside in the Rivals100, in Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star quarterback J.J. McCarthy (No. 33), El-Hadi (No. 51), Needham (Mass.) St. Sebastian's Country Day four-star tight end Louis Hansen (No. 68) and Brentwood (Tenn.) Ravenwood four-star linebacker Junior Colson (No. 83), which are tied for the third most in the nation. Ohio State has the most with 10, Tennessee has the second most with five, and Clemson, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon and USC all check in next with four. To compare, U-M signed just one Rivals100 prospect in the 2020 cycle (four-star linebacker Kalel Mullings, who resided at No. 92 nationally), four in 2019 (five-star defensive tackle Chris Hinton, five-star safety Daxton Hill, four-star running back Zach Charbonnet and four-star offensive tackle Trente Jones) and zero in 2018.
5 Commits who currently reside in the New England region of the country, with three from Massachusetts (Hansen, Dedham Noble and Greenough School three-star linebacker Casey Phinney and Mansfield High three-star defensive end T.J. Guy) and two from Connecticut (Wallingford Choate Rosemary Hall three-star offensive tackle Tristan Bounds and Suffield Academy four-star defensive end KeChaun Bennett). The area of the nation has been hit especially hard by Michigan in recent years, thanks to defensive coordinator Don Brown and his familiarity and background with the region.
No. 5 Ranked class for Michigan at the moment, trailing only Ohio State, Tennessee, Clemson and USC (in that order). The Maize and Blue have finished with a top five class just three times since 2006 (No. 5 in 2013, and No. 4 in both 2016 and 2017), but have hauled in a top two class in the Big Ten eight times in the last 13 years.
6-8, 280 Pounds is Bounds' listed height and weight, making him the tallest commit in Michigan's class and the third heaviest prospect in the fold (Anderson is the heaviest at 295 pounds and El-Hadi is second at 285).
7 Four-star commits for U-M, which are tied with Oregon for the seventh most in the nation. Ohio State (12), Clemson (11), USC (10), LSU and Tennessee (nine) and Florida (eight) are the only teams who have more.
17 Total commits for Michigan already, which are tied with Miami (Ohio) for the fifth most in the nation. Tennessee (24), Rutgers (20), Ohio State (19) and Minnesota (18) are the only four schools who have more. The Wolverines have signed at least 23 prospects in four of the last five years (the 19 they inked in 2018 was the lone exception), and appear to be well on their way to doing so once again.
No. 33 Is where McCarthy currently sits in the national rankings, which means he is on pace to be the highest rated signal-caller U-M has signed since Ryan Mallett checked in at No. 4 overall in 2007. In fact, Mallett and Chad Henne in 2004 (No. 13) are the only two quarterbacks Michigan has reeled in during the Rivals era (since 2002) who were rated higher than where McCarthy currently is.
March 19, 2019 Is when El-Hadi committed, making him the longest tenured pledge in U-M's entire 2021 class. McCarthy committed on May 11, 2019, while every other prospect in the haul pledged on March 25, 2020, or later.
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