Ed-Ace: Recruitnik extraordinaire, regular podcast guest, and noted darts enthusiast Steve Lorenz of Wolverine247, aka The Artist Formerly Known As Aquaman, is back with his weekly recruiting mailbag. If you aren't subscribed to 247 and want to read more from Steve and the gang, they're running a buy one month, get two months free promotion.

pkatz asks: Seems to be a lot of flux in our OL recruiting - where do we stand now on elite tackle recruits in 2017? 

I feel like Michigan is not so much in a "flux" situation as they are in a "wait and see" mode on the offensive line in 2017. The only thing I would call a flux is the number they would take, which is something that could literally change by the hour. 

They have the four verbal commitments currently, and depending on who they reel in it will likely be six or seven to finish out. The names they're pursuing have remained pretty much the same (no order): Aaron Banks, Isaiah Wilson, Henry Bainivalu (could be guard or tackle), Cesar Ruiz (interior), TJ Slaton (most likely interior), Alex Leatherwood, Walker Little, Chuck Filiaga, Austin Deculus, Jedrick Wills, Toryque Bateman and I'm sure a couple of others. 

Michigan's best shots are the guys they currently lead for on the Crystal Ball: Ruiz, Wilson and Slaton. They are in the thick of it for Bainivalu, and have a puncher's chance at flipping Leatherwood and Deculus. Wills and Filiaga are future official visitors that qualify as longshots. Bateman is a wait-and-see type prospect who will probably officially visit after the season. 

Basically it comes down to the fact that the remaining names they're in on are elite talents that can afford to wait out the process. Given the need for bodies up front and a potential opportunity to play early, they should finish out very strong across the board on the OL provided they keep winning games. 

[Hit THE JUMP for Steve's takes on decommits, M-OSU recruiting battles, and several quick-hitters.]

615Wolverine asks: Why are there so many decommitments lately? I know most were from 2018 class. Is Jim reevaluating them or are we on a limited scholarship count ?

Harbaugh is serious about the "meritocracy" stuff, but in my opinion it's almost to a fault. 

None of their recent decommitments outside of Aubrey Solomon are very meaningful as far as impact on Michigan's recruiting. The only way it would be is if the staff didn't believe they could find a player they deem better in the long run, and I don't think any of the others fit that bill. 

There are a lot of reasons kids open it back up: 

Some commit too early in the process, aren't getting the attention from other schools they were possibly getting before and want that spotlight again. Others commit too early, don't develop as expected and are told to look elsewhere by the schools. Others commit without visiting more than one or two programs and open it back up after seeing what some others may have to offer. Others are simply flaky; Jordan Elliott in the last cycle is a perfect example of this. 

It's gotten weird, but we're at the point where a junior prospect (2018 in this case) committing this early actually lessens the chance said prospect will sign with the school they're committing to. That's how high the rate of decommitments are at this point (I don't have the exact number, but it's grown). 

My thoughts boil down to this: Michigan should be more judicious about who they offer and when. Is it going to hurt them in the short run with prospects? Not as long as they win, but by taking guys who they aren't 100% sure they are going to sign (which they definitely have), they're leaving themselves open to some unnecessary negative recruiting by other programs. It's something that's really easy for them to avoid. 

Meyer has invaded M's base; Harbaugh hasn't reciprocated yet. [Upchurch]

StephenRKass asks: A lot of stuff about Michigan and Ohio State recruiting

There's a lot here, but it's worth covering so I will keep it succinct and hopefully to the point: 

As of today, Ohio State is in a golden age of recruiting, even for a program as tradition-laden as theirs. Meyer can go into a kid's living room and show them three national championship rings and a laundry list of players he has recruited both at Ohio State and Florida that have gone on to play and succeed at the NFL level. If you take everything else out of the equation, those are still the two things that are going to resonate most with elite prospects and their families. 

Under Harbaugh, I think Michigan can get into a similar situation regarding being able to pitch wins (big ones) and NFL production (proven). They also have the academic angle, which can give them the edge over certain kids in certain situations. 

They usually recruit pretty similar players, especially on the national level. The major difference the last five or six years has been Ohio State's total dominance in their home state. Michigan did well in 2012 and 2013 under Hoke, but with Meyer firmly entrenched in Columbus, it's become nearly impossible for Michigan (or anyone) to beat the Buckeyes for a player they truly want in-state. That's been the one glaring weakness for Michigan, as Ohio is a state they're accustomed to at least getting a couple blue-chippers out of each cycle. 

As far as "concern," it's not really a word I associate with recruiting. I think with Harbaugh at the helm, Michigan will put themselves in a position to compete on the field, which will subsequently affect their fortunes on the recruiting trail. Harbaugh took a moribund Stanford program and had it competing with Pete Carroll's USC dynasty in three years; there's no reason to think he can't eventually do the same against Meyer and Ohio State. 

Lightning Round

JTrain asks: Do you envision Lovie Smith reviving a pretty beatdown Illinois program? 

It's going to take him a little while. I think he's capable of doing it in the Big Ten West though. It's a matter of how patient both he and the program will be with him. If he's in it for the long haul, I could see him finding a solid amount of success there. They've done a decent job on the recruiting trail under him so far. 

ThadMattasgoblin asks: What impact would a playoff appearance have on Michigan's momentum on the recruiting trail? 

It would be massive. Going back to the Michigan/OSU answer—Harbaugh has a proven track record of developing talent. He also has proven he can win, but progression this early at Michigan would be the final step for them to build national championship-level recruiting classes. You can't overstate how big of an impact it would have IMO. 

UMProud asks: How soon do you think Michigan will pull a #1 class in? 

It probably won't be for a while, but not because they won't reel in top talent. It's mostly because they probably won't be #1 in 2017, and their 2018 and 2019 classes should be smaller than the 2016 and 2017 ones. The number to keep an eye on in those cycles would be the stars per commit number. 

Ziff72 asks: How much interaction does an average top100 recruit get in a week from Michigan? 

This varies so wildly by each player that you can't really answer it definitively. 2017's number one prospect, Najee Harris, has cut off all communication with college coaches during his high school season, so it would be zero for him. For others, it is a lot more. How many schools are they still considering? When are they deciding? Where have they visited? All of that goes into it. 

For the fun of it, I asked a five-star recruit that is considering Michigan how often they're contacted by coaches. 

"30 calls/texts per week," they said. "Mostly from schools I'm still considering, but some I'm not still reach out to me." 

I would say this is about an average number this time of year. 

DT76 asks: How was Chris Evans a three-star? As opposed to Derrick Green (example)? 

247 had Chris Evans as a four-star prospect. I'm not sure if we were the only ones who did or not. [Ed-Ace: Scout was the other.] I also had him listed as the prospect most likely to outdo his recruiting ranking as well. There were some clear signs he could break out. I know his ability to make big plays in big games was something that stood out to his high school coach. He did a lot of the intangible stuff you can't teach in that regard. 

With Green, I think we had him far lower than anybody else in the final 2013 rankings. [Ed-Ace: Yup.] If you remember, he had offers from Ohio State, Auburn, Tennessee and pretty much everybody else as well, and was a highly pursued recruit until his college decision. I don't do any of the evaluating or ranking on the site, but I do know that the opinion of college coaching staffs is part of what goes into ranking a guy. If that many schools like him and want him, you have to believe he's capable of becoming a player.