The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1532537
❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ MARCH 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 21 but the NFL. The combination of size, arm talent, and athleticism is reminiscent of players like Josh Al- len and Cam Newton." U-M offensive tackle signee An- drew Babalola checked in close be- hind Underwood in the final On3 ratings, comfortably in five-star territory at No. 14 nationally. "Man, he can be a first-round draft pick," Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said when dis- cussing Babalola during his signing day press conference in December. "He's got all the skills because he's got the size. He's probably 285 right now, which is good. You don't want him too big. He could easily be 310 like that. But he's got great ankle flexibility, great hip flexibility. "He's strong. But always with a lineman, you never really know until they get here. But he's got the ability to do it. He can be as good as any guy that's played here. He's got that ability. He's that smart. He loves the game that much. He's an awesome fit. He's a great player. But he's an outstand- ing kid. So, yeah, high ceiling." Haywood, U-M's only Feb. 5 signee, narrowly missed out on a five-star rat- ing, finishing as the No. 48 player in the On3 Industry Ranking and the No. 8 of- fensive tackle nationally. On3's Power called him an "explosive, powerful of- fensive tackle with high-end traits for the position." The Wolverines signed a total of eight Top 100 recruits in the fi- nal On300 ranking — Underwood (No. 1), Babalola (No. 14), EDGE Nate Marshall (No. 39), S Kainoa Winston (No. 44), Haywood (No. 76), WR Jacob Washington (No. 93), S Jordan Young (No. 94) and DL Benny Patterson (No. 97). Seven U-M signees also finished in the On3 Industry Ranking Top 100 — Underwood (No. 1), Baba- lola (No. 16), Marshall (No. 40), Haywood (No. 48), Winston (No. 91), CB Elijah Dotson (No. 94) and CB Shamari Earls (No. 97). Michigan's 24-man class breaks down by position as follows: de- fensive back (5 signees), offensive line (4), wide receiver (3), defen- sive line (3), quarterback (2), run- ning back (2), edge rusher (2), line- backer (2) and tight end (1). The geographic distribution of U-M's class was led by Michigan and Florida high schools with four sign- ees apiece, followed by Texas (3), Georgia and Louisiana (2 each). The remainder of the class was spread out, with one apiece from Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Vir- ginia and Washington, D.C. ❏ 2025 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL SIGNEES Name Rating* Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) Andrew Babalola^ HHHHH OT 6-6 300 Overland Park, Kan. (Blue Valley Northwest) Jamar Browder^ HHH WR 6-5 208 Lake Worth, Fla. (Santaluces Community) Elijah Dotson HHHH CB 6-2 171 Detroit (Belleville) Shamari Earls^ HHHH CB 6-2 203 Chester, Va. (Thomas Dale) Avery Gach^ HHHH IOL 6-5 287 Franklin, Mich. (Wylie E. Groves) Ty Haywood HHHH OT 6-5 285 Denton, Texas (Ryan) Chase Herbstreit HHH QB 6-2 185 Cincinnati (St. Xavier) Julius Holly^ HHH EDGE 6-4 224 Alpharetta, Ga. (Alpharetta) Donovan Johnson^ HHH RB 6-0 213 Savannah, Ga. (IMG Academy [Fla.]) Bobby Kanka^ HHH DL 6-4 289 Howell, Mich. (Howell) Andrew Marsh^ HHHH WR 6-0 175 Fulshear, Texas (Katy Jordan) Nate Marshall HHHH EDGE 6-3 240 Oak Park, Ill. (Fenwick) Travis Moten^ HHHH DL 6-6 296 Louisville, Ky. (Fern Creek Traditional) Eli Owens^ HHH TE 6-1 223 Alcoa, Tenn. (Alcoa) Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng^ HHHH LB 6-1 203 Hyattsville, Md. (IMG Academy [Fla.]) Jasper Parker HHHH RB 6-0 211 Marrero, La. (Archbishop Shaw) Benny Patterson III HHHH DL 6-2 240 Newburgh, Ind. (Castle) Jayden Sanders HHHH CB 6-1 181 Kilgore, Texas (Kilgore) Kaden Strayhorn^ HHH IOL 6-2 299 Novi, Mich. (IMG Academy [Fla.]) Chase Taylor^ HHH LB 6-2 213 Stockbridge, Ga. (Stockbridge) Bryce Underwood^ HHHHH+ QB 6-4 208 Belleville, Mich. (Belleville) Jacob Washington HHHH WR 6-3 183 New Orleans (Archbishop Shaw) Kainoa Winston HHHH S 5-11 194 Montgomery Village, Md. (Gonzaga [D.C.]) Jordan Young^ HHHH DB 6-0 177 Monroe, N.C. (Monroe) * Final On3 Industry Ranking; ^ Early enrollee at U-M 2025 ON3 INDUSTRY TEAM RECRUITING RANKINGS Rk.* Team 5-Stars 4-Stars 3-Stars Total 1. Texas 5 13 7 25 2. Georgia 4 19 5 28 3. Alabama 3 14 4 21 4. Oregon 3 15 1 19 5. Ohio State 3 15 8 26 6. Michigan 2 14 8 24 7. Texas A&M 2 17 6 25 8. Auburn 1 15 10 26 9. LSU 2 14 7 23 10. Tennessee 2 14 9 25 11. Florida 1 14 11 26 12. Notre Dame 1 13 11 25 13. Miami (Fla.) 0 12 9 21 14. Penn State 0 15 12 27 15. USC 1 8 15 24 16. Missouri 0 11 6 17 17. Oklahoma 1 10 7 18 18. South Carolina 0 12 14 26 19. Ole Miss 0 9 14 23 20. Florida State 0 9 14 23 * On3 Industry Ranking as of Feb. 12