Michigan’s 2022 class continues to climb the rankings.
Interesting, despite not gaining a commitment since the early signing period, UMs class is now up to 8th in the 247 composite with an average player rating of .9007 which puts it above the 2021 class and on par with most of Harbaughs classes. About a month before signing day the class was around .88 for player rating so that’s a huge jump. Looks like there have been some big movers on the composite.
Will Johnson up to #14
Derrick Moore up to #48
Zeke Berry up to #167
Jimmy Rolder up to #222
Mason Graham up to #257
January 28th, 2022 at 9:42 AM ^
I love this class. It's got some ballers in it, and I expect a lot of these guys to outplay their rankings
January 28th, 2022 at 11:35 AM ^
Agreed. And what's more impressive is they are now ranked pretty high. On3 Rolder is almost top 50. Keon Sabb top 100 consensus. Zeke Berry top 70 on 247. Derrick Moore is almost a 5 star now. Will Johnson 5 star is arguably the best player in the country. Some services have both DTs near top 100. That defense has 7 players rated near the top at least by one service. Aaaand they will I believe outplay their ranking. Offense has some gems. The tight ends and wrs led by clemons, ...if we add conerley and Andrew paul wow! Under the radar there also. Alex orji is a player imo as well.
January 28th, 2022 at 11:50 AM ^
My coffee has some real ball hairs in it.
January 28th, 2022 at 11:58 AM ^
From a tea bag?
January 29th, 2022 at 7:04 AM ^
Please, not while I am reading my morning sports page and drinking my coffee. Yuk.
January 28th, 2022 at 9:42 AM ^
I declare Mason Graham as a genetic combination of Bench Mason and Brandon Graham who blows up opponents with the same ferocity.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:30 AM ^
With an unverified ferocity.
January 28th, 2022 at 12:48 PM ^
I still think he's criminally underrated even at his new spot. Very good chance this kid is day one draft pick if he stays healthy and develops under Elston. He was an absolute beast against very good competition last year. Excited to see him in the maize and blue.
January 28th, 2022 at 9:45 AM ^
Zeke Berry is a top 100 guy. Anyone who has seriously watched his film knows that his combination of speed, cover skills, instincts, and tackling is not a mid 4 star. Rivals even has him listed as a CB which is just wrong
January 28th, 2022 at 10:42 AM ^
This is true.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:08 AM ^
Zeke Berry should be much higher. That young man will absolutely be a stud.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:42 AM ^
This is also true.
January 28th, 2022 at 11:49 AM ^
Any more, jibbroni?
January 28th, 2022 at 10:24 AM ^
'Cruitin'
January 28th, 2022 at 11:28 AM ^
It is incredible that Alabama and Texas A&M account for 1/3rd of the top 100
January 29th, 2022 at 9:48 AM ^
I went back and looked at the 247 Composite top 100 and - shockingly - the following schools made up almost 50% of the list
Texas A&M - 15
Alabama - 15
Georgia - 11
OSU - 8
And what's mind-boggling - A&M could land 2 or 3 more on the listing. All 4 of those schools are over 300 total points for their cumulative classes. Oh, and Texas is 5th on the list
I guess the NIL is alive and well - especially in Texas
January 28th, 2022 at 11:31 AM ^
Andrew Gentry is not factored into that ranking either, they consider him a class of '20 recruit. He's a .9628 score on 247s composite.
January 28th, 2022 at 11:59 AM ^
I think we're going to look back and be shocked at how much the 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes outperformed their rankings. We obviously have glimpses of this already with the 2021 class considering how many true freshmen flashed incredible potential.
Jimmy Rolder is the one member of the 2022 class that's tough to gauge because his highlight reel is limited. But the plays he does make on there are eye popping. If Kenneth Grant can turn a lot of raw potential into actual production (you can never be sure how motivated these monster DT's are beforehand), then we're going to have studs all over the place from this class.
January 28th, 2022 at 12:49 PM ^
the COVID effect on recruting means there's going to be a lot of guys "coming out of nowhere" all over college football in these last couple classes. Hopefully a number of them are on our roster.
January 28th, 2022 at 2:55 PM ^
For the same reason, though, there will be a lot players who don't live up to their rankings.
January 28th, 2022 at 1:34 PM ^
... you can never be sure how motivated these highly rated recruits in college sports are beforehand ...
FTFY.
For real, though: Why is the motivation of monster DTs dicey?
January 28th, 2022 at 11:27 PM ^
Because the overlap between 300+ pound men and an elite work ethic and discipline is understandably small.
January 29th, 2022 at 7:09 AM ^
There’s also the fact that, due to their immense size, they don’t need that elite work ethic to be completely dominant in high school.
You watch the highlight tapes of these guys and for the most part, it’s just them shoving kids over that are half their size. They don’t have to exert much effort, they don’t have to be a monster in the weight room, they don’t have to be a technique wizard.
For the vast majority of those guys, it’s a complete 180 in terms of preparation and playing the game. And it’s harder to develop that mindset in people who have never had to have it. Offensive linemen can be pretty similar in that aspect.
January 28th, 2022 at 4:17 PM ^
You posted this just a bit too early, as the 247 composite hadn’t updated to reflect the final Rivals update. Michigan’s class is still #8 nationally but the avg rating is up to .9010 now. Some of the lower ranked guys experienced bumps in their position rankings
January 28th, 2022 at 4:33 PM ^
How did these players get so much better at football in the last two months??
January 28th, 2022 at 4:58 PM ^
The one negative I can’t help but notice is the lack of a high end OL in this class. Not even a Top 500 kid in this class. I did see a picture on Twitter last night of Harbaugh and Moore visiting Conerly’s school. That would really put an exclamation on this class. Anyone hearing anything on that front? Still got a decent shot at him or is he likely staying West?
January 28th, 2022 at 5:52 PM ^
Less of an issue when you consider Andrew Gentry is effectively part of this class and was a top 100 recruit in the 2020 class and our last few OL classes have been rather large.
Gentry will arrive as a 20 year old true freshman, albeit one that hasn’t played football in two years and has been restricted on the amount of working out he’s allowed while serving his mission.
January 28th, 2022 at 5:56 PM ^
Good call on Gentry. Totally forgot about him. What a nice surprise pickup that was.
January 29th, 2022 at 7:19 AM ^
I would also add that Lorenzetti is much higher in the eyes of the staff than he is on the recruiting sites. Michigan was one of the first schools to discover him and he almost immediately committed.
The recruiting sites rarely take the time to properly evaluate kids that commit that early unless they go to a lot of camps or continue to pile on big offers. Lorenzetti is a Canadian playing in Connecticut, committed early, didn’t camp much, and the offers stopped after his early commit to Michigan. So they basically fired a generic 3* grade on him and never came back to actually evaluate.
It’s one of my biggest pet peeves with the recruiting sites. This was always going to be a small OL class, but Michigan got a couple guys they really like. Conerly would obviously be a huge add, but I think the staff is pretty happy with what they’ve got.
January 28th, 2022 at 6:29 PM ^
January 29th, 2022 at 7:09 AM ^
So he’s just not going to college then?
January 28th, 2022 at 5:09 PM ^
I know we give you loads of shit TK but nice OP.