Jayden Sanders committed to the Michigan Wolverines over the weekend, giving them a versatile prospect to develop for next year’s secondary.
The Wolverines will see quite a bit of defensive backfield attrition in 2025. Makari Paige, Quinten Johnson, Aamir Hall, and Wesley Walker will be out of eligibility. Will Johnson seems ticketed for the first round of the NFL Draft. Rod Moore and Jaden Mangham will have draft decisions to make.
In recruiting the 2025 class, Defensive Backs Coach Lamar Morgan seems intent on patching those holes sooner rather than later, as he secured Sanders to join fellow commits Ivan Taylor and Kainoa Winston. So, what does the 6-foot-2, 172-pound athlete bring to the table?
Scouting
Sanders is a cornerback, wide receiver, and return specialist for Kilgore High in Kilgore, Texas. Additionally, he plays basketball and competes in both the 400-meter and the high jump on the track team. Michigan football loves a two-way player, and multi-sport athletes even more. Sanders’ junior highlights showcase his playmaking ability in all three phases. He has multiple return touchdowns on special teams. On offense, he’s got downfield go-up-and-get-it playmaking skills and is also a threat underneath to turn short catches into long gains.
That experience should aid the consensus top-300 prospect on the defensive side. The son of a former Big 12 cornerback, Sanders appears to have a formidable football IQ. In coverage, he’s instinctual and decisive, and he keeps his eyes on the quarterback. He has the speed and athleticism to get into positions to make plays on the ball, and his time on offense indicates he might have surer hands than most. Despite highlights showing mostly cornerback play, he could be a utility player in the secondary, with the flexibility to play snaps at corner, safety, or even nickel. He’s got fluid hips for his size and looks like a willing tackler.
He’ll need to add some muscle mass to his frame that welcomes it – if he’s able to play at the same speed closer to 200 pounds, he could grow into a Makari Paige-type role at Michigan. However, given that Taylor and Winston are already in the class as safeties, the team is more likely to keep Sanders at corner. A good comp there might be fellow Texan-turned-Wolverine Gemon Green, who was similarly tall and lanky coming out of high school.
Recruitment
While Sanders’ father Nick starred at TCU in the late aughts, the Horned Frogs did not make his final group. Instead, the Wolverines beat out a couple other Big 12 opponents, Oklahoma State and Baylor, for Sanders the younger. Though he started the cycle as a fairly middling three-star recruit, Sanders has since moved up the rankings to a solidly four-star prospect. As tends to happen in recruitments like this, that upward movement should continue. ESPN and Rivals in particular have yet to do critical reevaluations after their initial rankings.
Credit is due to J.B. Brown, Michigan’s new Special Teams Coordinator (and a native Texan), for unearthing Sanders to the rest of the coaching staff. From there, Lamar Morgan was able to pitch Michigan’s recent track record of cornerback improvement – Green, DJ Turner, and Mike Sainristil come to mind – to lock Sanders into the class.
‘Lock’ is of course a loose term. There’s still plenty of time before Early Signing Day in December. Committing to Michigan will magnify Sanders’ profile. New evaluations mean there’s a chance that Michigan will have to fend off additional suitors in the coming months.
The Class As It Stands…For Now
The Wolverines now hold 16 commitments and are the 14th-ranked team to both 247 and On3. They’re almost certainly not done recruiting defensive backs. As noted, they’ll have plenty of room for new faces in that group next year. The biggest remaining need on defense is another linebacker (or two) to join Chase Taylor.
The biggest remaining targets are on offense – a pair of Andrews. Andrew Babalola is a top-30 offensive tackle prospect out of Kansas whose commitment looks to be a Michigan-Stanford battle. His decision could come through at any moment. Top-100 wide receiver Andrew Marsh, out of Texas, will make his college decision on August 20th. The Wolverines are hopeful in both cases, with current scuttlebutt placing Marsh as the more likely of the two to join the fold.
Regardless of how his peers’ decisions go, Jayden Sanders is a good bet to improve his recruiting ranking, especially if his senior season can deliver on the promise of his junior tape. From there, it’s about getting him onto campus and into the weight room to add some muscle. Based on his multifaceted high school play, he’ll have a shot to contribute to special teams early and should be competing for meaningful snaps in 2026.
