antwuan johnson

Goodbye: Antwuan Johnson and Carter Dunaway

While early commitments are more like declaring a current leader these days, I had some hope four-star 2018 OH LB Antwuan Johnson would stick based on his comments after Leonard Taylor's decommitment. Nope.

I look forward to getting back into this recruiting process pic.twitter.com/j8tdxIbcwS

— Antwuan Johnson (@Antwuan21) September 9, 2016

Johnson gave the reason for his decommitment to Maize n Brew's Evan Petzold:

2018 4-star LB Antwuan Johnson to @MaizenBrew on why he decommitted from Michigan: pic.twitter.com/AwWeupt84P

— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) September 9, 2016

Johnson set up a long slate of visits before the season; this looks like another case of a player committing as more of a placeholder than anything else. Michigan is now down to one commit in the 2018 class, Georgia safety Otis Reese. It's far too early in the cycle to get worked up about this stuff.

And, when I was just about done with this post, this broke:

2017 TE Carter Dunaway has decommitted from #Michigan: https://t.co/hNqaRxNq8r

— Steve Lorenz (@TremendousUM) September 9, 2016

Dunaway's rankings haven't budged from low-three-star despite being a long-time Michigan commit. The only reason this comes as even a slight surprise is his dad played for Bo.

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Don't Buckle Up Yet, But...

check the 2:57 mark to see a defender get spot-shadowed before getting juked to the ground.

...stay vigilant? 247's Steve Wiltfong just put in a Crystal Ball pick for four-star CT WR Tarik Black to Michigan:

I was hearing rumblings coming out of the Barbecue at the Big House that the Wolverines moved into pole position for the Cheshire (Conn.) Academy standout.

I'm also told Stanford and Alabama are the biggest threats to Michigan. Notre Dame was once considered the top contender but the Irish have faded some. The Cardinal staff is expected out to see Black next week.

Black wants to announce at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl but I would not be surprised if he did something sooner.

Notre Dame was considered the leader for a long time; if they're not the main contender, that's great news for Michigan.

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Large Human Favors Michigan

The BBQ at the Big House on August 6th is by far the biggest recruiting event of the summer for Michigan, and the list of potential visitors—and potential commits—is growing seemingly by the hour. The biggest news of the week, in both literal and figurative terms, is that three-star AL OT Toryque Bateman will take his second unofficial to Ann Arbor of the summer for the BBQ. The 6'8"(!), 305-pound tackle released a top five yesterday with Michigan on top, and he confirmed to Wolverine247 that the Wolverines indeed lead for him.

247's Isaiah Hole posted that Bateman is a take for the coaching staff and subsequently put in a Crystal Ball for Michigan; Steve Lorenz followed suit. If Bateman does in fact commit soon, that would bring M's O-line count for the class up to five with several top prospects still on the board. It looks like the coaches are willing to go up to seven OL for the class, and if the right prospects want to join in, we might even see a current commit be encouraged to look around. (To be clear, that last bit is speculation based on Harbaugh's recruiting style, not any concrete info, and I suspect he's learned from last year's Swenson fiasco.)

One such lineman could be four-star NY OT Isaiah Wilson, who will also be an attendance at the BBQ, as will four-star CA OT Aaron Banks, whose name hasn't come up much (distance will do that) despite his high interest in Michigan.

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