Here's some welcome good news. The country's #4 running back and the state of Michigan's #2 prospect, West Bloomfield's Donovan Edwards, announced he's staying home in a ceremony at his school. Edwards chose Michigan over Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, and Penn State, along with a who's-who list of offers from national powers.

Edwards is both an extremely talented player and a huge recruiting win for a program that's had trouble landing top in-state players. He's both an early signee and an early enrollee, so we'll see him on campus soon.

GURU RATINGS

Edwards has been regarded as a top-100 prospect from the beginning of the rankings releases for the 2021 class, dating back to the fall of 2018. ESPN doesn't track rankings changes like the other two sites but it's safe to guess he's been pretty static there because ESPN fires and forgets. Rivals bumped him from 89th to 58th after his junior season, then slowly slid him down to his current perch at 74th as other risers caught their attention.

247 is both the outlet that's covered Edwards in the most detail and the one that's highest on his ability, which is a nice combination. They moved him as high as #22 overall after his junior year and have kept him just outside of five-star territory ever since; they're also the only outlet that has him as the top player in the state.

Edwards is listed at 5'11 and between 190 and 195 pounds on all three sites. He's got a solid build for a running back and has the versatility to line up in the slot or even out wide, as he did with some frequency in high school.

[Hit THE JUMP for scouting, video, and the rest.]

SCOUTING

Edwards has caught scouts' eyes pretty much from the moment he arrived at West Bloomfield because of his combination of size, athleticism, and versatility. Here's 247's Allen Trieu after a 7-on-7 event in July of 2018:

West Bloomfield's Donovan Edwards had a fantastic day. He got deep several times for long receptions and had a one-handed touchdown reception. He is a complete back, built like a senior even though he is a rising sophomore. It was easy to see why Michigan, Purdue and others have offered. More will come if he produces like we and the Laker coaches think he will this season.

After also seeing Edwards excel in a game setting as a sophomore, Trieu named him one of the Midwest's best for the 2021 class:

Last season, Donovan Edwards flashed high-level talent on varsity, but he built on that this off-season with some big camp and 7-on-7 performances. Then he went out in week one and scored three touchdowns. Edwards is built like a college back already and has great receiving skills.

A broken ankle cut his sophomore season short, but Edwards was back to impressing scouts at the Opening's Ohio regional in the spring of 2019. He was fully back to form in his junior season. When IrishIllustrated's Tim Prister broke down junior film of Notre Dame's top running back targets, Edwards stood out above the rest:

Donovan Edwards is both quick and fast. He plays extremely hard every snap of the football with excellent forward lean/pad level and superior athleticism to just about everybody with which he shares the football field. A combination of speed and lower-body power allow him to run away from defenders or plow through them. High-level understanding of how to play the running back position. Predominately a north-south runner who does almost all of his damage between the hash marks, which is the sign of a real running back.

Versatile in that he catches it out of the backfield, can line up wide and play receiver, and can run go-routes past defensive backs. Also returns punts and can throw it downfield if need be. Clearly the No. 1 choice for the Irish moving forward.

While that sounds like a breathless evaluation of a potential ND lean, Prister came up with weak points for the other backs, calling one stiff, another too bounce-minded to be an every-down back, and even suggesting one was better suited as a corner. It's just hard to find major areas for improvement with Edwards.

We do finally get a bit of scouting from Rivals instead of where-is-this-guy-leaning updates after his junior year. While the pandemic wiped out most of their camp season, they named him as one of the players who would've been in contention for a Five-Star Challenge invite:

“A camp setting does not fully showcase Edwards’ abilities, but he would still have been a standout at the position because of his speed and agility. He has such a well-rounded game that I have no doubt Edwards would be impressive at the Five-Star Challenge.” — Josh Helmholdt, Rivals.com Midwest Recruiting Analyst

When Adam Gorney and Mike Farrell went through the top RBs in the 2020 draft and found their closest likeness among 2020 or 2021 recruits, Edwards got the nod as the comp for FSU's Cam Akers, who was drafted in the second round and is coming off a huge week after injuries slowed the start to his rookie year:

Akers was an elite quarterback in high school known mainly for running the ball but Edwards reminds me a bit of his build and power.

Akers is also 5'11 but was a little thicker coming out of high school. He's also a high-level receiver; meanwhile, Edwards has also dabbled as a wildcat quarterback and has thrown the occasional pass. After this season, you never know when that'll come in handy.

As opponents keyed on Edwards in his senior season, West Bloomfield toyed around with different ways to use him. Sam Webb caught a game in which they probably used him too much as a true wideout instead of just getting him the ball:

Donovan Edwards lined up at receiver more than he did tailback in West Bloomfield's 24-21 loss to Clarkston Friday. The five-star prospect carried the football five times for 20 yards and a touchdown, hauled in six receptions for 32 yards, and completed a pass for 28 yards. In the end costly mistakes contributed to West Bloomfield squandering to a 21-7 lead and eventually succumbing to Clarkston's superior size and strength.

Even then, he had an 80-yard touchdown on a screen pass called back on a penalty. When Trieu scouted WB against Lake Orion later in the season, they seemed to have found a better way to utilize their star:

The top-ranked prospect in the game was West Bloomfield senior running back Donovan Edwards. Edwards rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Teams have geared up to stop him this year, but WB has allowed him to run more wildcat in addition to taking hand-offs, which helped him get loose. His acceleration and burst looked good and he also ran hard through contact and delivered some blows at the end of his runs. He looked the part of a blue-chip prospect.

Even if it wasn't always optimal, the willingness to move Edwards all around the field speaks to his versatility and football acumen. When summing it all up for 247's official evaluation, Trieu compared Edwards to New Orleans' all-world running back Alvin Kamara, who's the best receiver out of the backfield in the NFL not named Christian McCaffrey:

Strong, muscular build. Compact and has prototypical size. Explosive runner with good burst and can hit the home-run. Will run tough between the tackles. Great pass-catcher who can function as a receiver out of the backfield or in the slot. Good, willing blocker with good strength. Does not have many glaring weaknesses, but can still keep improving timed speed and continue recovery from an injury which ended his sophomore season. He is a complete back who can play in any scheme though, and should be a lead-back early in his college career. Should hear his name called around the second round of the NFL draft.

Hopefully Michigan will take advantage of Edwards' talent better than Alabama and Tennessee did with Kamara. He's a special player.

OFFERS

In addition to his top group (Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State), Edwards held notable offers from Auburn, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Miami (YTM), Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Texas, USC, and Wisconsin, among many others. You're not going to find many stronger offer lists out there.

HIGH SCHOOL

West Bloomfield has become one of the state's better talent-producing programs since former Michigan and NFL wideout Ronald Bellamy took over the program. Edwards is the highest-ranked player the program has produced so far in the Rivals era (2002-present). He joins 2020 signees Makari Paige and Cornell Wheeler in the Michigan program. Other notable recent grads include PSU LB Lance Dixon and former MSU WR Trishton Jackson. They have a pair of four-star athletes in the 2022 class, Michael Williams and Dillon Tatum, who both hold Michigan offers.

STATS

While I don't think his senior year stats are complete (it's at least missing one completion mentioned in a scouting report), MaxPreps has full four-year varsity numbers for Edwards. His best stats came in his junior year, when he rushed for 823 yards and ten touchdowns on 7.6 YPC and caught 14 passes for 213 yards and two more scores. He's also played defense and special teams all four years on varsity, racking up eight interceptions over the last two years.

FAKE 40 TIME

None listed. It looks like Edwards sat out most of the testing portion of the Opening regional, which makes sense given he was still recovering from a broken ankle.

VIDEO

Senior highlights:

Junior highlights:

Sophomore/freshman highlights and single-game reels can be found on his Hudl page.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

It doesn't matter who's on the roster. Edwards is talented enough to play right away and will. He and Blake Corum should be in a fascinating battle for snaps as backs who can both run between the tackles and line up in the slot, while Zach Charbonnet and Hassan Haskins will also factor in for more traditional usage. Even if they lose a player or two to attrition, the backfield will be loaded.

Down the road, Edwards should emerge as either the lead back or part of a great one-two punch with Corum. It helps that both of those players are versatile enough to be one the field at the same time without tipping what Michigan is doing.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

It has Donovan Edwards in it. For the rest, check out our Signing Day primer and other updates on the front page today.