The Michigan Wolverines are 5-5 following a spread-covering (hooray) loss to Indiana. The #10WINDIANA promise is fulfilled, and we welcome our new Hoosier overlords.
Discussing Michigan’s 2024 football season in earnest at this point feels categorically unproductive. The team is not good. They will need substantial offseason changes to the roster and coaching staff to become good.
Given the anemia on offense, a win against Northwestern is not guaranteed. It is nonetheless vital to obtain bowl eligibility. Bowl season means valuable practice time for next year’s key contributors. After that comes this year’s edition of The Game. It will almost inevitably be a slaughter, granting Ryan Day that ever-elusive Gritty Tough Win Over The Big Bad Team Up North.
The 2024 season will be remembered as a sort of ‘gap year’ in Ann Arbor. In the spirit of forethought, let’s instead check in on the state of the 2025 recruiting class, which has had some marquee additions (and departures) since the season began.
Help Is On The Way
Since the start of the season, Michigan has added four players to its 2025 class, each at areas of major need.
Five-star offensive tackle Andrew Babalola (6-foot-6, 280 pounds) is the crown jewel of the group. He will finish as Michigan’s highest-rated offensive line commit ever. The consensus five-star was originally a basketball player and appears to be only scratching the surface of his vast potential. It’s incredibly difficult to show up and make waves as a freshman offensive tackle, but Michigan clearly needs help, and if anyone can do it, you’d hope it’s the blue-chipper.
Shamari Earls (6-foot-2, 180 pounds) is a four-star cornerback with a high ceiling to explore. The erstwhile Georgia Bulldog commit should come in with similar measurables as Jyaire Hill, albeit with a bit more initial polish. Given Will Johnson‘s impending departure, Earls has a chance to compete for early snaps in year one.
Three-star Benny Patterson III flipped from Cincinnati. A hooper like Babalola, he’s a bit of a tweener on the D-line at 6-foot-3, 245 pounds. Once he focuses solely on the gridiron, he should bulk up and be similar to former Wolverine Kris Jenkins. That is a player who is nominally a defensive tackle but can shift to end in 3-4 fronts. It bodes well that he’s steadily climbed the rankings on the back of a strong senior season.
Last but not least is former NC State wide receiver commit Jamar Browder, a three-star. He’s a tall, sticky-fingered contested catch waiting to happen. Michigan is in desperate need of receiving help, and Browder at first glance doesn’t look highly-ranked enough to help immediately. However, if he shows up in fall camp making catches like this one, the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder could ascend the depth chart rapidly.
Commitments Gained, Commitments Lost
The last time we considered Michigan’s 2025 recruiting as a whole, we identified three key players to the Wolverines’ future success. Of those three, so far Nate Marshall and Carter Smith have rescinded their commitments. There’s scuttlebutt that Ivan Taylor is close to joining them. Tough look for this space.
For Marshall’s part, he formed a bond with Auburn defensive tackle coach Vontrell King-Williams, a fellow Chicago-area native. Pair that with the Tigers’ hefty NIL package for the vaunted defensive line prospect, and it was an uphill battle for Michigan to retain his commitment.
Smith’s situation is a bit trickier. The touted quarterback left the class on the heels of news that Michigan had ramped up its efforts to flip top-overall prospect Bryce Underwood from LSU. It seems Michigan attempted to make it work and have both in the class. Still, Smith had to feel hurt when hearing about the considerable financial packages being floated for a classmate in the same position. There’s no word or indication yet on where Smith will end up. Conceivably, then, there’s still a chance Michigan could come back to the table to heal the relationship. For better or worse, that likely depends on how the Wolverines handle things with Underwood.
Taylor, a highly-ranked defensive back, is nominally still in the class. However, three of his five 247 Crystal Ball predictions currently anticipate a flip to Alabama, including a VIP Scoop from Tom Loy. It was fun while it lasted, but Michigan must prepare to look elsewhere for additional secondary help in the class.
Hurtling Toward Early Signing Day
Once Taylor departs, Michigan will have 18 commitments. Though they’re currently eleventh overall in 247’s composite rankings, they will drop a bit when they lose their second-highest-ranked player. Still, there’s plenty to be excited about with the class’s current makeup. There’s also plenty of remaining need for Sherrone Moore to address.
On offense, there’s of course the quarterback. Michigan would do well to recruit at least one and look for another in the portal. Unless Jadyn Davis is unleashed in the offseason, the team’s 2025 starter is not currently on the roster. Otherwise, there’s a concern with tight-end commit Andrew Olesh, who’s received a concerning amount of attention from James Franklin and Penn State. Retaining him will be a battle. They’ll likely look for one more offensive line commit to add to the current three-man class.
Defensively, crystal balls have been coming in for four-star linebacker Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, who would be a massive get for Michigan over Notre Dame. They already need to fill secondary spots, and that need only grows in Taylor’s absence. All told, there’s probably room for another defensive tackle commit, Owusu-Boateng, and at least two more corners/safeties.
It’s going to be a mad dash to the early signing period from December 4th through December 6th. There will of course still be work to do in the portal as well. For Michigan, rounding out this class strongly is crucial to their 2025 success so they can start to put the travails of 2024 behind them.
