The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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2016 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE sification, 147-24, and posted three shutouts en route to ending the year ranked No. 23 nationally by Max- Preps' Freeman Rankings. Gil won't be staying at his high school position of safety, according to Harbaugh's signing day commentary. "Gil played linebacker half the sea- son with Devin Bush," he said. "He's that kind of athlete. Mother Nature is taking over and he's 230, so he's go- ing to be an inside linebacker." Michigan's defensive backs haul ranked No. 5 in the nation in Ri- vals.com's assessment, behind only the crews assembled at Tennessee, Washington, Florida State and Ala- bama. The headliners in that group are cornerbacks David Long, a 6-0, 187-pounder out of Los Angeles, and Lavert Hill, a 5-11, 175-pounder from Detroit. Both committed to Michigan late in the recruiting process, and they could be joined in a prospective fu- ture secondary by Khaleke Hudson, a 6-0, 206-pound athlete out of McK- eesport, Pa. That is, unless Hudson's considerable versatility gets em- ployed elsewhere. "He's smooth and can pluck the ball out of the air … can you have enough good athletes?" Harbaugh pondered during the signing day ex- travaganza. "He's a heck of a safety. If these guys [pointing to backs and early enrollees Kingston Davis and Kareem Walker] don't get it done at running back, this guy can go do it. "He's one of the toughest, most pure football players in the entire class." Bush and Gil will be joined by another projected rookie linebacker in the fight for early playing time. Elysee Mbem-Bosse, at 6-3 and 232 pounds, hails from Ellenwood, Ga., but came out of Cameroon and has played only three years of football. Gary grabs most of the headlines among the newcomers on the front lines, but the Wolverines feature plenty more talent in the mix. Carlo Kemp (6-3, 250) from Boulder, Colo., The Denver Post 2015 Gold Helmet Award winner as best prep player, scholar and citizen in the state has already arrived as an early enrollee. Kemp could wind up at linebacker, while Michael Dwumfour (6-2, 310) from Wayne, N.J., Ron Johnson (6- 4, 245) of Camden, N.J., and Joshua Uche (6-2, 215) of Miami were listed among the defensive ends. POWERING UP ON OFFENSE Michigan loaded up on offense as well, getting an early commitment from 6-5, 210-pound, Rivals.com four- star quarterback Brandon Peters out of Avon, Ind. The Wolverines will in the future build around the signal- caller Harbaugh compared to his for- mer standout at Stanford, Andrew Luck, who currently stars for the In- dianapolis Colts. Like Luck, Harbaugh said, Peters isn't "over-mechanical," but simply strong at "naturally playing the game of football." Rivals.com's No. 6 pro- style quarterback in the nation earned Indiana's Mr. Football award as a se- nior, passing for 3,103 yards and 37 touchdowns in the state's largest di-