Last week I dumped 97 links on offensive recruiting for the class of 2021, and y'all said you were looking forward to the defensive one. Well the thing is the defensive side isn't nearly as set. There are a LOT of guys on the board, and the staff is constantly turning up more of them, so I'm going to have to split this up into three parts, and push 2022s to a fourth. Just remember you asked for this.

The Board:

The fellas again:

Icon	Name	Meaning
	Sad Josh	The genre of player with unrequited interest in Michigan. Unlikely to receive offers; most will eventually fade off the list and go to Duke or Michigan State or something.
	Nefarious Eduardo	Player is a longshot. Either they've declared someone else a leader publicly or popular opinion holds that they're likely to go to another school.
	Data	Either no opinion or Michigan is one of a fairly even group of chasing schools. Players in this category maintain no leader or change their leader frequently. The default category for players that we don't know much about yet.
	Happy Teeth	Players who have Michigan in a small leading group or have Michigan as a tenuous favorite. Should be regarded as a good shot, not a slam dunk.
	Mr. Blue	Player is either a verbal or is expected to be one sooner or later. Players with this designation are 65%+ to be Michigan commits.

The order is my interpretation of how likely they are to commit and how many recruiting points are being expended.

An *Expanded* Note on Stars: What I said last week: These are a general (not exact) average of a player's status among the recruiting services. Addition: The sites don't have two-stars anymore but I'm going to use the designation for certain low 3*s to differentiate between a guy in the 750s who'd still be in the top half of a Michigan State class, and one who's in the 1,000s or not even ranked.

An *Expanded* Note on Premium Info: What I said last week: No illicit sharing of said material will appear on this site. Players are listed with interested schools in their profiles; this information is public. Commitments are by definition public. Any assertions as to schools in the mix, decision dates, or leaders I will back up with links to the source of the information. Addition: There will always be more interesting information after the link. If you want that stuff, subscribe to their services. If you want one place to read what you could spend a few hours looking up for free on your own, this post is for you.

Defensive Tackle

Strap in, because there are a lot of guys to talk about here. In fact I left out another ten Shaun Nua stays in contact with. The guy likes to recruit.

Commits
Player	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Previously
Dominick Giudice	NJ	**	Michigan		Hello. Harbaugh bait.
Targets
Player	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Previously
George Rooks	NJ	****	Cuse Michigan, PSU, Miami, Pitt, BC		Visited for PSU
Rayshaun Benny	MI	****	Michigan, Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State
Tywone Malone	NJ	****.5	OSU, Ole Miss, TAMU, UF		Baseball too
Jacob Schuster	WA	***	Cal, Stanford, Wash, Wazzu, Michigan
Jay Toia	CA	****	USC Commit
Derek Wilkins	CA	****	Cal, Stanford lead all the academics
Arden Walker	CO	***	Wis, Michigan, MSU, Iowa, ISU, Colorado, BC
Ikenna Ugbaja	MA	**	Michigan, Vandy, Cuse, Harvard
Ryan Keeler	IL	***	RU, Ole Miss, Michigan, entire Midwest		Best of Midwest star. Raves about UM. Iowa Visit.

NEEDS:

Major, and avoids "Dire" only because they got an elite guy and another guy close to it last year in Chris Hinton and Mazi Smith. They're also several years into their build-your-own DT program, and likely to start seeing the fruits of that labor by the time any 2021 commits step on campus. Any 2021 commit who can contribute immediately is, in the most plausible scenario, immediately competing with RS Jr Julius Welschof, RS Soph Michael Morris, and RS Fr Kris Jenkins to be Mazi's or Hinton's backup at the two most cycled positions in football.

The good news is the board looks way better than it did a few months ago, and things may change with the blue chips once Ohio State's had their fill. Welcome to Recruiting in the Modern Age. How's that NIL stuff going?

[After THE JUMP: is everyone an anchor?]

COMMIT:

When we make jokes about Michigan giving out offers this year based on Twitter workout videos, we are specifically referencing Dominick Giudice (pronounced Jih-DEESE), a defensive end I believe they see as a future tackle. EJ Holland said on his podcast, in which he interviews Giudice, that this happened really quickly: Nua saw his film, convinced Harbaugh, and Giudice committed. Giudice told Holland his intensity and hands are what attracted the staff, and that they've discussed coming in at Anchor but moving inside as he grows; he's down to play whatever.

SI's Eric Rutter posted an interview with Mater Dei DL coach Shannon Hoadley today that notes DG's played mostly strongside end and has a particular attribute that might raise your esteem:

“Dom’s leverage is probably his best attribute,” Hoadley said. “He has great first jump off the ball with the snap of his punch through his hips and through his hands, to be able to extend out and launch, to be able to get vision to understand what’s going on in the backfield.

A first step. /rubs hands

MANY PROSPECTS:

Rivals' E.J. Holland shared a free article in late April that ran down Michigan's top DT targets, and while much has changed it's a good place to start.

The top of the board is 4* NJ DT George Rooks, who visited last fall for Penn State but had to be re-recruited almost from scratch when Chris Partridge and Anthony Campanile bolted this offseason. At that time he looked like Ohio State's for the taking, with PSU and ND the others. The Syracuse legacy from St. Peter's Prep is "talking with Coach Nua almost every day right now … for an hour plus" (plus 25 minutes with Harbaugh)($) per Lorenz versus "two or three times a week($)" with Miami (YTM), who's still trying to get a visit($). As of May 14, Rooks had two virtual tours($) planned: Michigan and Pitt, per Brian Dohn. And Rivals' Adam Friedman recently ranked Syracuse #1 and Michigan #2, with PSU, Miami, and Pitt behind.

Find the common denominator and you've got the school that just received a bunch of crystal balls and like objects. MLive's Ryan Zuke posted an article on Rooks on May 19 that mentions there's another legacy in the family:

The good news for the Wolverines is that Rooks has been to campus several times. His sister played for the women's basketball team in 2018-19 as a graduate transfer from Harvard.

He's a 3* still to 24/7, but the one that they're watching. That Lorenz article says Michigan has Rooks studying anchor, plus 3-tech on passing downs. His decision date was going to be after his senior season($) but that could change, he told Dohn. Holland says Rooks "hates the recruiting process."($)

Also high on the shopping list is Oak Park 4* lineman Rayshaun Benny, who's listed as an offensive tackle on the sites but would be coming to Michigan for defense if he so chooses. Does he so? As of February SpartanMag reported MSU was written off, and Lorenz thought PSU was the danger. It's changed again since April, when Josh Helmholdt had Michigan fourth behind PSU, MSU and Tennessee($), Steve Wiltfong thought Iowa led($) and OSU was recruiting Benny the hardest. The latest is 24/7 ND writer Kevin Sinclair, lamenting the Irish didn't offer sooner, thinks Michigan and Kentucky lead($), while Tom Loy includes Iowa($). Ask the Iowa guys($) and they too want Benny on the DL, but d.l. don't like their chances.That was echoed by Allen Trieu in an extensive Midwest recruiting Q&A. Reading between the lines it seems Benny prefers to play on the defensive one, where Michigan and Iowa are recruiting him. Everyone says it's a slower timeline, that staying close to home is important, and that Mom is the person to win.

Sam recently spoke to Mom and Oak Park's coach, who says if you get one guy from Oak Park, Benny's the guy:

“I think he could be the best out of all of them,” McMichael said of Benny. “It’s because of his work ethic. Off the field he’s mild mannered. On the field he’s a monster. He just clicks on when he’s on the field. He wants to bury you.”

Webb clarified his new podcast with Lorenz and Marich that Benny is the most focused of those guys: Rayshaun wants to take care of Mom and little brother. Considering DT and in-state recruiting, Lorenz quietly thinks Benny one of the two or three most important recruitments for Michigan.

That's the end of blue chip good news. NJ (Bergen Catholic) 4.5* Tywone Malone, the top-ranked player in NJ who's also a baseball prospect, seemed like a good shot when we had Bergen's HC Vito Campanile's brother Anthony on staff. Even by the end of February Malone was interested enough to be #10 of Isaiah Hole's ten prospects to watch. By April Rivals' Adam Friedman had OSU, Rutgers, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss ranked, and Michigan barely unmentioned. Malone's not deciding until December, but Michigan might be moving on.

Also in top prospects on a Happy Trails trajectory, Nua has been working to flip($) CA 4* Jay Toia from a USC commitment that looked wobbly when he released a Top 8($) for visiting purposes. His cousin is already at USC and the position coach who recruited him to USC is now at UCLA. A visit could have given Michigan a shot but the pandemic probably ended that.

According to post by Brice Marich today Michigan remains in pursuit of 3.5* WA DT Jacob Schuster, a 6'2"/300 pure nose guard who had 10 sacks last year. There's a recent low-confidence ball to Stanford($) for a prospect known to value academics. Stanford just offered, Cal's been in it the longest, and the in-state schools are in.

Academically minded CA 4*, Derek Wilkins should grow into a DT (he's 6'4"/250 now), and plans to become an accountant. Michigan offered right before the lockdown and made his visit wish list of one according to SI's Eric Rutter:

“I have an idea,” Wilkins said. “Michigan is one of the ones that I definitely want to take. The rest, I’m still kind of up in the air on, especially with all this [coronavirus] stuff. I don’t know how it’s going to affect recruiting yet, so I don’t want to make any decisions yet. Michigan is definitely one that I want to take because I want to go check it out.”

One hopes the word that got replaced with "[coronavirus]" rhymes with ducking. He also wants to visit Northwestern, Virginia and Boston College says Rivals' Adam Gorney. 24/7 reports a warm four of Cal (where the consensus thinks he'll end up), Stanford, UCLA and Washington. Wilkins says his position will be determined by how much weight he puts on; he can play anywhere on the defensive line. An initial plan of committing in the summer is gone now, but three recent crystal balls, including "high" pick from Greg Biggens, recently went in for Cal($) based on connections.

IL 3* Ryan Keeler has been on Michigan's radar so long that Ole Miss assistants Chris Partridge and D.J. Durkin are the guys he's known the longest. This guy's contacts list is getting a workout($):

"I had several schools at the top of my list," Keeler said. However, the list is evolving as I continue to build relationships with coaches. The coaching carousel this year has moved a lot of coaches around. Coach [Kevin] Cosgrove from Texas Tech was recruiting me at LSU. Coach [Jim] Panagos from Rutgers was recruiting me at Minnesota. Coach [Chris] Partridge from Ole Miss was recruiting when me when he was at Michigan. Coach [Ted] Gilmore and Coach [Ross] Els from Michigan State were each recruiting me at their previous schools."

The best friend of J.J. McCarthy is seen as an anchor prospect, though he could grow to play inside—this offseason he reports dropping 30 pounds of bad weight and building back 20, with a goal of 260 by fall. The all-Michigan crystal balls turned foggy($) over the course of winter visits to Nebraska and Minnesota, and that list has grown as Keeler seems happy($) to give any old school($)'s recruiting guy($) some glowing words($) about the school they cover($). He's also considering an earlier commitment($) as spots are filling up. The balls now all think Rutgers would get that commitment; even if they do I sense his recruitment won't be over.

Another grow-a-tackle option, Michigan offered CO 3* Arden Walker in April. 247 recently moved Walker into top target status, though Wisconsin is pushing the hardest($). His tape reminds me of another Colorado guy, Carlo Kemp… you know: a poor man's Rashan Gary. As with Kemp, there's some question whether he's a linebacker, nose or anything in between. Walker spoke to Maize N Brew when he got his offer and said Mom is a Michigan fan. He plans to visit late summer, virus-willing.

Almost done. Your annual Northeast who-dat is MA 2.5* Ikenna Ugbaja, who received an offer of questionable commitability last August($) but Michigan seemed to have ghosted out by October($). Vandy now leads.

HAPPY TRAILS

Michigan was in good position for Victory Vaka until the staff cooled on him and he committed to Texas A&M. Belleville 5* Damon Payne may be from Michigan but always intended to end up in the SEC or an SEC-like program; Alabama and LSU lead. CO DL Aidan Keanaania was an early Nua target who committed to ND. Former commit Denver Warren took a prep year and recently received a flurry of Big Ten offers, but Michigan's not pursuing.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Though he hasn't said so, I sense George Rooks is winding down his recruitment. Does he even belong on the DT list? The sites are saying Anchor, and Dohn's scouting report reads a bit like Chris Wormley, but I take that's a short-term thing: a 6'4"/260 person who's not yet old enough to vote will be a DT after a college weight program. Plus whose film from Michigan's line last year would you want him watching film on?

I also think the COVID situation helps with Rayshaun Benny where it hurts with all of those national guys Nua was about. Oak Park sent a 4-star and a 5-star DT to Kentucky in the last three classes, but they didn't exactly go to Ohio State if you catch my drift. He could be an Alan Branch-like difference-maker, though if you remember your Branch he was a bit wild at the start.

A big season could crack open some of the blue chips.

Defensive End

Substantially fewer prospects because Michigan knows where they stand with them, and I covered the tweeners above.

Commits
Player	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Previously
T.J. Guy	MA	***	Michigan		Hello.
Targets
Player	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Previously
Quintin Somerville	AZ	****	Michigan, ASU, FSU		Visited for The Game, Nua is the key, was #5 ovr
Dallas Turner	FL	****.5	Bama, UGA lead Michigan, Okla, Stanford
JT Tuimaloau	WA	*****	Washington, OSU, USC, Michigan, Oregon
Darryl Peterson	OH	***	Wis leads Michigan, WVU, Bama, PSU
Patrick Hisatake	OR	**.5	ASU, UCLA, Michigan, others
Tobechi Okoli	MO	***	Okla, Auburn, Neb, Kentucky, KSU, Mizzou, UGA?
Josaiah Stewart	MA	***	BC decommit

NEEDS

Would like to take at least two and could really use an impact edge rusher who can help on passing downs immediately since Uche left early, Vilain hasn't been through a season healthy, and the guys they've gotten since have been more like Anchors.

NOTE ON SAM/WDE

I'm listing guys here Michigan expects to play with their hands down but it's a spectrum. For now the SAMs who project to grow into DEs, namely CT 3* Kechaun Bennett and OH 3* Darryl Peterson will be discussed with the linebackers. 

COMMIT

MA low 3* TJ Guy is a Kwity Paye comp who committed in April, which meant he was included in the grumbles more appropriately aimed at Giudice and LB commit Casey Phinney. Get ready for the block quote that inspired me to finally write a recruiting post. It's from Rivals' EJ Holland, who broke lockdown to fly to Massachusetts and fall in love with "the steal of the class"($):

Oh my God, we are all missing the boat on TJ Guy. I don't want to hear anything negative said about Guy again. This is a four-star prospect. No doubt in my mind. Guy was the talk of the workout today, and he proved to be an absolute freak show. Guy is extremely athletic for a defensive linemen his size — the dude is quick on his feet, ran stride for stride with receivers in coverage (he really did allow no completions) and terrorized 2022 offensive lineman Sully Weidman in 1-on-1's. His ceiling is off the charts. I couldn't have been more impressed with Guy today.

There's a lot more at the link, as well as video.

Michigan DE commit TJ Guy (@guyjr11) warming up #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/dbRLX9TxQ1

— "EJ Holland" (@EJHolland_TW) May 12, 2020

Their east coast scout Adam Friedman was also impressed, while suggesting a move inside is possible.

Another reason why he may excel on the interior is because of his speed that could pose challenges to opposing centers and guards.

"He’s got that frame; he’s got that quickness that really would present some mismatches for interior offensive linemen," Friedman said. "And, if he’s able to play with leverage and use that quickness to his advantage, we could be looking at a major contributor to Michigan. But, it’s all about how he develops when he gets on campus.

TARGETS

The crystal balls flew in last week for AZ 4* WDE Quintin Somerville after 24/7's Rocky Mountain region scout Blair Angulo put in a "high-confidence" crystal ball on May 7. Lorenz said he'd have a crystal ball in too if Somerville had been able to visit. Allen Trieu put in a ball too, sharing much of the stuff Angulo's been saying in the Detroit News. Rivals' Adam Gorney points to the longstanding relationship with Nua as Michigan's reason for leading.

Marich notes this is a guy Nua has been recruiting hard since Tempe($). Angulo calls the All-American Bowl invitee a "smart pass-rusher with an array of counter moves" who…get ready for this…"maintains low pad level." Somerville's star has been falling since he was the #5 recruit in the nation early in the cycle—he's now just top-150. That's because an unblockable 6'1" sophomore DE prospect is elite, while a still-6'1" junior DE prospect is too short. Somerville's game reminds me of Mike Danna a lot.

Unfortunately Michigan's other longtime edge prospect seems to be climbing too high. FL DE Dallas Turner, Aquinas teammate of CB commit Ja'Den McBurrows, and LB commit Jaydon Hood (and McBurrows' cousin) is closing in on five stars, in which rarified air you stop being an academic athletic Michigan and Stanford are warring over, and get conflicting medium-confidence crystal balls from the insiders who know where the money flows. Steve Wiltfong thinks Turner's the best pure edge rusher in the class. He also put in a ball for Bama last week after Turner named the Tide his leader($) a little bit ahead of Georgia($) in what Wiltfong says is currently the nation's biggest recruiting battle($). Read into that as you may. Losing Devin Bush Sr. probably didn't help. Note that Hood is new to Aquinas so his pickup probably doesn't move things with Turner.

Finally I'll mention Rashan Gary-like 5-star SDE JT Tuimaloau of Sammamish, WA, the #1 overall prospect to 247Sports, who if you believe the OSU recruiting writers($) favors Ohio State over hometown Washington because of Larry Johnson. Michigan is a dark horse since Tuimaloau adores Nua, and if Michigan looks like a playoff contender in December things could heat up. Washington has been all over him since his freshman year of high school however, and Tuimaloau's has a lot of family at or around USC.

Here's 7 hours of the Snoqualmie Falls near Sammamish:

Last March, Brice Marich wrote about OR 2.5* Patrick Hisatake ("hiss-a-ta-kee"), a mostly un-scouted 6'5" monster being recruited for the Uche role:

“They are looking at bringing me in as a hybrid linebacker because I can rush and drop back,” Hisatake said. “I only started as a linebacker this past season so there is a lot of room for improvement on my end. But I am excited to keep working on my craft and getting better.

Michigan immediately made his top three:

“(Michigan is in) my top 3 for sure,”Hisatake said. “I grew up watching Michigan football with my dad, so to have an opportunity to play for them is a dream. They have a great football program and the Big Ten is a competitive conference to be in.”

Offers have been flooding in($) and the summer camps that probably would have put him on more radars aren't happening so expect this one to simmer. He will be in the Polynesian Bowl if the world exists in January. He also said he "would like to hear from [Nua] more" in early May. If you go by social media Maryland leads.

The other raw athlete they're looking at is Kansas City 3* Tobechi Okoli , who was compared to Taco Charlton in Allen Trieu's writeup. He's also Taco raw: new to football and a lean 6'5"/250. Nebraska got out in front along with KSU and Mizzou, but Michigan's made a wide open top eight. SI's Eric Rutter thinks Okoli could play either side.

Finally Don Brown extended an offer (a camp offer probably) to MA 3* Josaiah Stewart, a former teammate of Mike Sainristil, in January. Stewart was a BC commit at the time but  decommitted in mid-April. Dohn's evaluation has a lot of Uche in it:

Slight concerns about frame but has length. Carries 235 like it is 220. Elite burst and speed off the edge. Changes direction well. Excellent body control. Shows flexibility to dip shoulder and turn corner. Disruptive edge rusher. Uses hands well. Re-directs down line of scrimmage. Has varied move set and polished swim move. Plays with power and suddenness. Has athleticism to drop into coverage. Has to add upper body strength. Does not have elite size. Must improve at point of attack in run game. Multi-year starter at Top 20 program. Day 3 NFL draft potential.

But Uche was 20 pounds lighter.

HAPPY TRAILS?

The last athletic DE/DT from the Northeast they were considering was NJ 4* Aaron Armitage, but it seems Michigan's happy with Guy and Giudice, and Armitage is heading to USC.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Somerville and Guy, plus one of Okoli or Hisatake, or failing that Stewart.