I've been lapsing while I get the book out so here's a big update again. The recruiting board also got one. Offense covered here, defense tomorrow, and I'll try to be more regular until we find someone to take this off my plate.

Quarterback

If your buddy tells you "Check out our future quarterback at the pool," what do you think is going to be at the link? Right? Well when my text alert sound went off, I saw that much of the message on my lock screen and decided I could look at abs later. Then I forgot to open it for a few weeks. This is what was inside:

Bored at the crib .@overtime pic.twitter.com/qXKkNQ2H9q

— J.J. McCarthy (@jjmccarthy09) April 6, 2020

There is no pool anywhere in that video. Bad text, friend.

Angelique spoke to McCarthy this week as he prepared for IMG's season opener this weekend. That included a better description of the low-amplitude Elite 11 performance than I think we got from any of the sites covering it:

“I performed not perfect the first day, but I only missed probably two balls the whole night, so it was really good,” he said. “And the second day, we had a 20-throw pro day script that we had to do. I was the first one to go voluntarily and I didn't feel I got through as well as I wanted to. But I did all right, still placed top 10 in the final standings for that day. And the third day, we had this conditioning drill where it was like eight targets and we had hit all of them in a certain amount of time and the fastest time wins. I performed top five in that.

He's also Jim Harbaugh:

“I decided that football was going to be my everything around right after we lost the state championship (last season). That was the breaking point. Fifth grade is when I knew I loved football and I just wanted to play for as long as possible, but after we lost state, I knew I had this clear vision of where I want to be. I'm just running with it, and I'm working as hard as I can to get there.”

The Freep has an article behind a subscriber wall, and I don't know anyone with a login to get into it, but the clip looks promising:

[After THE JUMP: They can't poach our recruits. Only WE can poach our recruits.]

Running Back

It looks like Michigan's down to two prospects, a Donovan Edwards and more-than-a-not-Donovan-Edwards.

It still looks like it will be Michigan for Edwards, though Oklahoma, Georgia, USC, Florida and Notre Dame are still in the hunt according to a recent roundup by Lorenz($). ND is hanging on by a thread though and it's still delightful to get a vintage Tom Loy explanation($) why this was Notre Dame's decision:

Whether people want to believe it or not, I think the all-in effort to land Will Shipley and not necessarily push hard for anyone else is hurting the Fighting Irish. Edwards is an elite talent and has been priority No. 1 for plenty of programs since day one.

After listening to the TMI podcast from the 18th Georgia feels less worrisome by the day, especially after Sam Webb's deep discussion with Edwards and Donovan's best friend($). Of more concern is some sudden Oklahoma optimism that popped up a few weeks ago from 247's Western guy Brandon Drumm:

I spoke to a source that tells me the talk of Edwards working on a visit to OU is legitimate. I can tell you that, according to a source with with knowledge, Demarco Murray has a “great” relationship with Edwards. The source added, “(OU) and the Edwards family have had some really great talks,” the source said. “If he was a bit closer, and could have already seen the Sooners campus, he would be committed to OU.”

The source then said distance is an issue, but believes if they get Edwards on campus the Sooners would pull ahead. Edwards did make it sound like if he had one trip it would be to Norman:

“I gotta go Oklahoma,” Edwards recently told The Michigan Insider. “Then I would probably want to go to USC. I wanted to go to Florida… you know, Gator Nation. That's kind of it. I've seen other places that I really wanted to see. Those are probably like the only three for sure.”

The unlikelihood of visits—the NCAA extended the dead period—is what finally convinced Sam to put in a crystal ball for Michigan, but Edwards is going to take his time and Oklahoma is going to try everything they can to get as close to a visit as they can. Steve Wiltfong also talked to Donovan's father Kevin recently and got that Oklahoma's RB coach DeMarco Murray (yes you're old) has the younger Edwards #1 on his board. However Oklahoma is pushing really hard for 5* Camar Wheaton and top QB Caleb Williams has been working on him (but not Donovan) according to the TMI podcast.

The not-Donovan Edwards is Haskins-like TX 3* Tavierre Dunlap and Michigan appears to be in the top two of a three-horse race with Utah and USC($), which probably means he's a sad josh to USC. Michigan would like to take two backs this class.

Michigan is no longer being mentioned among the finalists for FL 3* APB Amari Daniels, a Texas A&M lean who's expected to make a decision soon.

Wide Receiver

The commitment of CA 4* Xavier Worthy is the best football news for Michigan in a long time. The sites have since caught up to our "don't say Anthony Carter but Anthony Carter, seriously" takes. He's now in the top-100 for 247 and even higher to Rivals. EJ Holland explained the Rivals re-rank($) which boils down to "we watched the tape"($). Holland also got out there and met the family, which appears to be the one from My Big Fat Greek Wedding:

I was able to meet with Dixon’s mother, Christian, as well as Xavier’s mother, Nicky, and his uncle, Nick.

Holland also offered his own Worthy scouting($):

Worthy has long speed but what impressed me the most about him was his burst, acceleration and quickness in short space. When going through ladder and footwork drills, Worthy was downright explosive. A couple of my videos look like they're sped up because he's moving so fast and loses no speed when he changes direction. The only other recruit that I've covered that can stop suddenly and accelerate that fast is Jaylen Waddle at Alabama.

Via that article Worthy was 145 pounds on that tape but is now up to 160. He announced on Twitter (I don't link those) that because of Coronavirus he's going to forego his senior season, graduate in November and be in Ann Arbor for potential December practices.

As you gathered from the quote Holland also saw CA 3* Cristian Dixon on that California trip($):

I’m struggling to find a true NFL comparison for him. I like Kennan Allen a lot because Dixon is such a polished route runner and brings similar size. Like Allen, Dixon also has an excellent catch radius. It’s a beautiful sight when he runs ‘Drag’ and ‘Over’ routes and does a fully body extension to make a catch. But Dixon brings more speed than Allen. He can take the top off a defense and make plays vertically like a Robby Anderson. I don’t think Dixon is your typical big, physical outside guy like fellow commit Markus Allen. He brings a lot of versatility to his game.

Holland says Dixon is now 6'3 and offered a Michigan comp of Nico Collins. If you want to see what that looks like, Holland filmed himself trying to cover Dixon and Worthy:

What’s it like to cover Rivals100 Michigan WR commit Xavier Worthy (@Xavierworthy2) aka The Flash?

Here is my first person account 〽️⚡️#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/jaxf2ZgVXb

— "EJ Holland" (@EJHolland_TW) August 26, 2020

Dixon too will be enrolling early, though in the usual way.

Also enrolling early will be fellow recent commit Andrel Anthony (hello), a Lansing native who was Michigan State's must-get target of the cycle. Spartyfreude aside, this might also help Michigan get Anthony's old best friend, 2022 OR 4* WR Darrius Clemons, an elite athlete who moved out west in 2014 after the two grew up together.

Also no longer qualifying for class sleeper is OH WR Markus Allen, who's up to a four-star and the #44 WR on Rivals; he was previously #76. He's also playing through an injury($) this year instead of enrolling early, he told Holland. That didn't slow him down much in Game 1, when Allen caught a Jeremy Gallon Cloaking Device™-style game-winner on 4th and 19 that he didn't drop:

Amazing play to (probably) win this game. Cade Rice throws TD to Markus Allen on 4th-and-19. Northmont leads Springboro 40-36 lead with 9 seconds left. pic.twitter.com/BnF1VE7sd8

— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) August 29, 2020

Also Lorenz dropped a nugget($) about Allen's age in his Xavier Worthy commitment writeup:

One huge tidbit about Allen that is very meaningful regarding his ability/development is the fact that he's a 2022 prospect age-wise. He's almost a full year younger than most of the other prospects in his class. Michigan recruited him with this in mind.

Tight End

Top target IA 4* Thomas Fidone committed to Nebraska, the hometown school, and Coronavirus is the reason he couldn't get to campus; Michigan felt strongly about him before that according to Sam. Lorenz sees a pattern where Michigan gets one underrated guy and then shoots for their #1 target and comes up just short; maybe it's time to get two in a class.

NC 3* Bryson Nesbitt, a South Carolina legacy, seems like the only other iron in the fire at this time. Lorenz reports Michigan will have 2022 GA 3* Marlin Klein on campus next weekend.

Offensive Line

Top target Rocco Spindler chose Notre Dame, which means Michigan's eyes now turn to their other top guard priority, MA 4* Drew Kendall, whose BC/Michigan decision long since passed "cumong!" and now firmly rests in "dammit coronavirus" territory.

Sam Webb broke down where Kendall's decision is at on his blog($) and also discussed the top OL target extensively on the recent TMI podcast (which didn't have Lorenz).  Bits from that: Kendall finally admitted to Brice Marich that if Rocco Spindler chose Michigan Kendall wasn't coming. The delay since is Kendall wants to be absolutely certain of his decision; he isn't going to decommit.

EJ Holland makes it sound like($) BC head coach Jeff Hafley is emptying the negative recruiting drawer to win this one. He also (I think?) dispelled the rumor that Kendall is the "Purple Devil" silent commit; in fact Holland recently switched his FutureCast to BC($). The depth chart and the impact of an extra year of eligibility are the remaining concerns. Dohn thinks it's been 51-49 at times and other times seemed to be tilting Michigan's way. A decision was expected this week but that might be put off.

Some of those concerns Michigan's already addressed; Eastern scout Brian Dohn joined the above podcast and said other schools were playing up the "are you really going to get up to 330 to be a Michigan lineman?" Michigan assured him they're looking for #SpeedInSpace guys who end up 305-310, for example Ryan Hayes and Karsen Barnhart. Michigan even put together a film of them running the same plays (e.g. outside zone) on Kendall's highlight reel. Michigan isn't pushing a timeline according BC's 247 site but clearly the longer it goes the more the hometown school's chances grown.

Michigan is still swinging at five-star Nolan Rucci, but the PSU legacy with a brother at Wisconsin seems to be down to those two schools with Clemson #3 as a decision approaches. He recently took a PSU unofficial with his mom. Holland also threw out the name of($) TN 4* Noah Josey if Michigan doesn't get Kendall.

CT OT commit Tristan Bounds is another guy who shot up the rankings, from a 5.5 and unranked among OTs he's now a 5.8 (four-star), and the #28 OT; the #26 OT is 211th in the Rivals 250 so Bounds is knocking on the door.

As for the in-staters, MI G/C commit Raheem Anderson will try to play for Cass Tech($) if they get a winter or spring season in early next year, but T commit Giovanni El-Hadi isn't going to play this year and may enroll early.

Defense and 2022s tomorrow.