The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1493247
24 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2023 2023 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY ZACH LIBBY M ichigan finished the 2023 football recruiting cycle with 24 signees, including eight four-star additions to the roster. Fol- lowing National Signing Day, The Wolverine sat down with a trio of re- cruiting experts to get their thoughts on some of the key athletes in the U-M class. Participants on the panel were Tom Lemming of the CBS Sports Network and Prep Football Report, Charles Power, On3's director of scouting and rankings, and EJ Holland, The Wolver- ine's own Michigan recruiting insider and football recruiting editor. Which signee do you consider to be Michigan's biggest recruiting win? Lemming: Enow Etta. I liked him a lot. He has great potential because he's ex- plosive. He's also gained a lot of weight and muscle from last year. I like Karmello English, too. He's not really big but is an explosive wide receiver out of one of the better high schools in Alabama. Power: Jyaire Hill. He was the No. 2 player out of the state of Illinois. He be- came a major priority for the Illini after they came off their best season in a long time. It speaks volumes to Michigan's re- cruiting abilities. I think Hill is a high-upside corner pros- pect and has a lot of positive markers. He's tall, is highly productive on both sides of the ball, is a good athlete and has legitimate speed with his 100-meter times. The ball skills are there. When he gets into Michigan's program, knowing their developmental history and strength program, I think he has that high upside to become maybe a multi- year starter and potential NFL Draft pick. The combination of what Michigan is getting in Hill the player and given the circumstances of his recruitment makes me single him out. Holland: Jyaire Hill. He's my top-rated recruit in the class. You could make an argument for Evan Link being an impres- sive recruiting win, considering the Wol- verines were pretty much out of the pic- ture before making a run in the summer. But Hill's recruitment was obviously the biggest saga in the entire cycle. The re- cruitment tilted back-and-forth between Illinois and Michigan for a better part of a year. It became clear that Hill's mother favored Illinois and that Hill felt like the Illinois staff had more "fun." At the end of the day, [U-M co-defen- sive coordinator and defensive backs coach] Steve Clinkscale did a phenom- enal job of winning over Hill and finally getting his mother on board. The Jim Harbaugh in-home visit near the end of the cycle was the final nail in the coffin. Who was the most important addition? Lemming: Amir Herring. I've seen him each of the last three years, and I really like him a lot. Michigan has done such a good job with the offensive line, and I think Herring is a very good ball player. Also, Evan Link is one of the top guys in Washington, D.C. I watched him the last few years as well. Nathan Efobi is probably one of the most underrated players in the country. He's very strong and very athletic. Holland: Cole Cabana. I think you could make an argument for Hill, too, especially with Michigan's need for another corner- back this season. However, Michigan's running back room behind Donovan Ed- wards and Blake Corum leaves a lot to be desired. Cabana could bulk up quickly under the strength and conditioning pro- gram as an early enrollee to handle some carries between the tackles. I also think his speed is outrageous, and that means you can use him in a lot of dif- ferent roles. You can line him up in the slot and put him out wide. He can return kicks and punts as well. He just brings a differ- ent dimension to the Michigan offense. Who was the biggest steal? Lemming: Enow Etta, because all of the Texas teams wanted him. It was great for Michigan to get him out of the Dallas Metroplex because those guys seem to always go to Texas, A&M, TCU, Oklahoma or Oklahoma State. You don't see Michi- gan getting down there as much. So, he was a good steal. Another guy who had a big senior year out in Chicago was Roderick Pierce. I saw him develop at Brother Rice, then he just skyrocketed to become one of the top players in the city last year. Power: Cornerback Cameron Calhoun. Before Luke Fickell took the Wisconsin job, I think Cincinnati had arguably the most underrated recruiting class in the country. It was just loaded with quality players, guys who have legitimate upside. Calhoun has pretty good size and has the frame to fill out a little bit more. When you look at him, you just think of the ball skills. He played opposite of five-star Jermaine Matthews, and he made plays when he was targeted. He has a very high pass breakup-to-interception rate the last two years. He's just a playmaker. Holland: Jason Hewlett. Despite being a consensus three-star, he has four-star ability as a linebacker. I know he was a take as a defensive athlete, but he's a great fit at the linebacker spot for what Jesse Minter does with his defensive scheme. You need guys who can run sideline- to-sideline as well as cover. Hewlett is a dynamic athlete who is capable of do- ing that. While he's raw from a techni- cal standpoint, I have no doubt that he can be developed at U-M both in the strength and conditioning program and on the field. He has the skill set to really outplay his ranking and be a true hidden gem. It was a great job by Clinkscale of identifying Hewlett and flipping him from Cincin- nati late in the cycle. Which signee is the most likely to have an instant impact in 2023? Lemming: Wide receiver Karmello Eng- lish. Skilled position guys always play Michigan won a tough recruiting battle for Jyaire Hill with his home-state school Illinois. Hill could make an immediate impact as a freshman at cornerback or even as a return man. PHOTO BY EJ HOLLAND ROUNDTABLE ANALYSIS National Recruiting Experts Examine Michigan's Class