The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1029353
OCTOBER 2018 THE WOLVERINE 43 FOOTBALL RECRUITING The 5-11, 175-pound Johnson plays all over the place in high school, but is mostly considered a dual-threat quarterback by his current coaches. He's electric with the ball in his hands and could also play multiple positions at Michigan, but receiver will be his main focus. The staff is still chasing after Round Rock (Texas) Cedar Ridge three-star wide receiver Jaylen Ellis, Orange (Calif.) Lutheran four-star wide receiver Kyle Ford and Green- wich (Conn.) Brunswick three-star wide receiver Cornelius Johnson. Ellis — a 6-0, 186-pound speedster — took an official visit to Michigan for the Western Michigan game and, despite his commitment to Baylor, is giving U-M a hard look. The No. 46 wide receiver in the country likes the Wolverines, but has been committed to the Bears since June 2017. The 6-3, 195-pound Ford is U-M's top target at receiver and continually mentions the Wolverines as one of his favorite programs. Washington, Oregon, UCLA and USC make up the rest of his most mentioned schools — all much closer to him than Michigan is. The competition is challenging for the No. 9 wide receiver and No. 48 overall player in the country, and when most of his suitors are regional programs it's even tougher. Michigan once felt like the team to beat for Johnson, but now Stanford might be the top program for the 6-3, 195-pounder. Both of his parents went to school in Palo Alto, Calif., so it'll definitely be difficult for U-M to land the No. 59 receiver in the country. Tight End Michigan has a very solid commit- ment in place from Fairfield (Ohio) High four-star Erick All. He's a hard pledge and doesn't appear to be looking around. Still, head coach Jim Harbaugh utilizes different kinds of athletes at tight end and will almost always recruit a couple in each cycle. Concord (Calif.) De La Salle four- star tight end Isaiah Foskey may be higher on the board than All is, but he's still uncommitted. The 6-5, 230-pounder has a top group consist- ing of California, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan and Washington, and is very close friends with U-M pledge Giles Jackson. It's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out with the No. 6 tight end and No. 133 overall pros- pect nationally. Offensive Line Paw Paw (Mich.) High three-star offensive tackle Karsen Barnhart, Cincinnati Moeller three-star offen- sive guard Zach Carpenter, Logan- ville (Ga.) Grayson three-star offen- sive guard Trente Jones, Akron (Ohio) Hoban four-star offensive guard No- lan Rumler and New Canaan (Conn.) High three-star offensive tackle Jack Stewart are all committed to Michi- gan, meaning the Wolverines are in good shape up front. Offensive line coach Ed Warinner would love to add a true tackle to the group and has a few talented big men in his sights. Lakeville (Minn.) North three-star Bryce Benhart checks in at 6-9, 301 pounds and obviously possesses in- credible length. He's a left tackle and would fit in well with the rest of the group. The No. 38 tackle in the coun- try was in Ann Arbor for Michigan's BBQ at the end of July and posed for pictures with the rest of the commit- ted linemen and Warinner. He's very quiet and is hard to read. Wisconsin is the school most frequently men- tioned in his recruitment. Target No. 1 along the offensive line is Crystal Lake (Ill.) South four-star Trevor Keegan. The 6-6, 310-pounder has a top group con- sisting of Alabama, Clemson, Geor- gia, Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State, making competition for him extremely stiff. While he has family roots in the state of Michigan, the No. 21 of- fensive tackle and No. 196 overall prospect nationally seems wide open among his top group. Defensive Line Michigan has a ton of talent com- mitted along the defensive line with Norcross (Ga.) Greater Atlanta Chris- tian five-star strongside defensive end Christopher Hinton, Boca Raton (Fla.) American Heritage four-star weakside defensive end Michael Morris, Clayton (Ohio) Northmont three-star weakside defensive end Gabe Newburg, Blairstown (N.J.) Blair Academy three-star weakside defensive end David Ojabo, Kent- wood (Mich.) East Kentwood four- star defensive tackle Mazi Smith and Belleville (Mich.) High three-star de- fensive lineman Tyrece Woods in the fold. Even with those six committed, U-M is still involved with one of the top players in the entire country. Lewis Center (Ohio) Olentangy Orange five-star strongside defen- sive end Zach Harrison is practically neighbors with Urban Meyer, but the Michigan staff has positioned itself well in their pursuit of him. The 6-5, 245-pounder is the No. 1 strongside defensive end and No. 17 overall prospect nationally, so the idea of him getting away from Ohio State doesn't seem possible. Still, the U-M coaches are definitely making him feel like a priority. Linebacker Linebacker is another position without much action. Oakdale (Conn.) St. Thomas More three-star outside linebacker Charles Thomas committed to Michigan way back in June 2017 and hasn't really looked around. He's been to Ann Arbor several times since then and even transferred from IMG Academy up to Saint Thomas More to get used to the cold. The 6-0, 216-pounder looks like the second coming of Devin Bush and should fit very well into Don Brown's linebacker-friendly scheme. There aren't really any other tar- The Wolverines' top remaining target along the offensive line is Crystal Lake (Ill.) South four-star Trevor Keegan, who is listed as he No. 21 offensive tackle and No. 196 overall prospect in the country by Rivals.com. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN