Meet Michigan’s 2021 recruiting class
Breaking down the Michigan football recruits who signed letters of intent Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period:
Signees
C Raheem Anderson
School: Detroit Cass Tech.
Vitals: 6-foot-3, 298 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Four stars, No. 210 overall, No. 3 center.
The buzz: Anderson comes from what has been a traditional pipeline school for the Wolverines and should be well-known among locals after starting four years at Cass Tech. U-M likes to pull its centers in the run game and Anderson has the athleticism to handle that. Should immediately bolster depth at a position that lost Zach Carpenter to the transfer portal.
WR Andrel Anthony
School: East Lansing.
Vitals: 6-foot-2, 175 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Three stars, No. 526 overall, No. 81 receiver.
The buzz: Anthony is an intriguing prospect. He’s pretty lanky and doesn’t have eye-popping speed like Worthy, but is still a smooth athlete who was able to effortlessly glide past most of the competition he faced in high school. Knows how to get a clean release off the line, set up double moves and track the ball in the air.
SDE Kechaun Bennett
School: Suffield Academy (Suffield, Connecticut).
Vitals: 6-foot-4, 220 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Four stars, No. 349 overall, No. 22 strong-side end.
The buzz: One of the more intriguing prospects in the class, Bennett has major potential with his frame and ability to run. At the same time, he also has ways to go as a passrusher, and he is another recruit with positional uncertainty: Will he play standing up as a big hybrid linebacker (think strong-side linebacker in Michigan’s current scheme) or will he add a bunch of weight and play end?
OT Tristan Bounds
School: Choate Rosemary Hall (Wallingford, Connecticut).
Vitals: 6-foot-71⁄ 2, 285 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Three stars, No. 417 overall, No. 35 offensive tackle.
The buzz: Ed Warinner has a type at offensive tackle: Long, agile and with a frame that could use some weight. Bounds is in the same mold of Jeffrey Persi, a 2020 signee, or Ryan Hayes. He is a pure tackle. For depth purposes, this is a pretty important addition after U-M signed only one tackle last cycle.
OLB Junior Colson
School: Ravenwood (Brentwood, Tennessee). Vitals: 6-foot-2, 228 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Four stars, No. 95 overall player, No. 5 outside linebacker.
The buzz: Colson could project to a number of spots in Michigan’s defense. He could play inside linebacker or either hybrid position. He could also bulk up and become a rush end. The type of versatile, explosive athlete that teams need to counter spread offenses in this day and age.
OC Greg Crippen
School: IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida). Vitals: 6-foot-4, 285 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Four stars, No. 275 overall, No. 5 center.
The buzz: A former Notre Dame commitment, Crippen looks like he could project either to guard or center. You rarely see a team sign two centers in one class, so odds are either Anderson or Crippen will be snapping the ball while the other will play at guard.
WR Cristian Dixon
School: Mater Dei (Santa Ana, California). Vitals: 6-foot-2, 187 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Four stars, No. 222 overall, No. 38 receiver.
The buzz: Dixon is a big, rangy target who should be able to play on the outside. Michigan needed to add some size at receiver, with Cornelius Johnson the only scholarship receiver listed above 6-foot-1. Dixon moves relatively well for his size. And because of his frame, he has a chance to contribute immediately.
P Tommy Doman
School: Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.
Vitals: 6-foot-3, 170 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Three stars, unranked, No. 2 punter.
The buzz: Specialists like Doman often get lost in the shuffle at major recruiting sites, but kicker- and punter-specific rankings say he is
one of the nation’s best in both regards. He might have an opportunity to contribute immediately: The Wolverines could lose both Will Hart and Brad Robbins at punter, while the kicking job has flipped back and forth between Jake Moody and Quinn Nordin the past three seasons.
RB Tavierre Dunlap
School:
Vitals:
247Sports Composite ranking:
Del Valle (Texas). 6-foot, 196 pounds.
Three stars, No. 403 overall, No. 19 running back. The buzz: Dunlap’s junior film mostly consists of him running past everyone on the field, which indicates that he has solid speed but also doesn’t tell us too much about his ability to break tackles and grind out tough yards. This was a much-needed addition, though, after Michigan signed just two running backs over the 2019 and 2020 classes.
RB Donovan Edwards
School: West Bloomfield.
Vitals: 5-foot-11, 190 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Four star; No. 44 overall, No. 4 running back.
The buzz: The fourth-highest ranked offensive player that Jim Harbaugh will have nabbed at Michigan, Edwards was long considered one of the best uncommitted players in the country, as Georgia, Notre Dame and Oklahoma, among others, were in hot pursuit. A dynamic runner with legitimate home-run speed who can also be a weapon in the passing game. A huge addition for Michigan, which signed just two running backs over the previous two classes and has also struggled to recruit in-state.
OL Giovanni El-Hadi
School: Sterling Heights Stevenson.
Vitals: 6-foot-5, 285 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Four stars, No. 85 overall player, No. 12 offensive tackle.
The buzz: The first member of this class, ElHadi looks like a future right tackle who could also move inside. He has nimble feet and a solid frame. His 4.44-second shuttle time from March 31, 2019, was elite for a high school offensive lineman.
WDE Dominick Giudice
School: Mater Dei (Freehold, New Jersey).
Vitals: 6-foot-4, 250 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Three stars, unranked, No. 100 weak-side end.
The buzz: Giudice previously told the Free Press he was being recruited for strong-side end or defensive tackle. His senior film listed him at 274 pounds, an increase that would suggest Giudice is headed for the latter position. That would quietly make him one of the more crucial members of the class as the only projected defensive tackle — a position that Michigan has struggled to recruit and develop in recent years. As a senior, Giudice had a whopping 42 quarterback pressures and was listed with 43 tackles for loss and 24 sacks as a junior.
WDE TJ Guy
School: Mansfield (Massachusetts).
Vitals: 6-foot-4, 240 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Three stars, No. 931 overall, No. 50 weak-side end.
The buzz: Like most Division I prospect from Massachusetts, Guy was simply too much to handle for most of the players he faced in high school. He has impressive straight-line speed and plays hard, chasing down plays from behind. Guy looks like a future strong-side end in Michigan’s defense.
TE Louis Hansen
School: St. Sebastian’s (Needham, Massachusetts).
Vitals: 6-foot-41⁄ 2, 232 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Four stars, No. 274 overall, No. 11 tight end.
The buzz: Hansen was bigger, stronger and faster than pretty much everyone he faced in Massachusetts. He looks like a natural passcatcher who knew how to find the ball in the air. Michigan’s tight ends struggled greatly this season, so there is an outside shot Hansen plays early. Whether or not he does will likely be determined by how quickly he progresses as a blocker.
LB Jaydon Hood
School: St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Florida).
Vitals: 6-foot-1, 212 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Four stars, No. 247Sports overall, No. 14 inside linebacker. The buzz: Hood’s junior film was among the
best in the class. This isn’t saying that he’ll turn out like Devin Bush, but you can squint and see some similarities. Hood is somewhat undersized but can really run and hit.
CB Ja’Den McBurrows
School: St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Florida).
Vitals: 5-foot-10, 165 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Three stars, No. 553 overall, No. 43 cornerback.
The buzz: McBurrows fits the mold of quick, slightly undersized cornerbacks that Michigan has previously targeted. He doesn’t seem to have much experience playing press man coverage, though. Still, the Wolverines seem to believe he has the chops to do so. And maybe it’ll be a good thing for U-M that McBurrows has experience playing off coverage, if the Wolverines tweak their pass defense.
QB J.J. McCarthy
School: IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida). Vitals: 6-foot-3, 190 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Five stars; No. 22 overall player, No. 2 quarterback.
The buzz: Given Michigan’s struggles at quarterback, McCarthy is easily the most important member of this class. The highest-ranked quarterback Jim Harbaugh has landed, McCarthy’s arm talent pops off the screen and in person. Could contend for a starting job immediately.
OLB Tyler McLaurin
School: Bolingbrook (Illinois).
Vitals: 6-foot-2, 210 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Three stars, No. 494 overall, No. 30 outside linebacker.
The buzz: McLaurin is another defensive prospect who could project to a number of different positions. Maybe he plays inside, or moves to strong-side linebacker. He also has a frame that could hold enough weight to bump him down to defensive line.
S Rod Moore
School: Northmont (Clayton, Ohio).
Vitals: 5-foot-11, 180 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Three stars, No. 501 overall, No. 37 safety.
The buzz: Moore is a willing and able tackler. There isn’t as much film of him playing coverage, but his coach believes he will be able to play man coverage thanks to his speed (as a junior, Moore ran 6.99 seconds in the 60-meter dash and 22.17 seconds in the 200-meter dash, qualifying for the state meet in both events).
WR Xavier Worthy
School: Central East (Fresno, California). Vitals: 6-foot-1, 160 pounds.
247Sports Composite ranking: Four stars, No. 76 overall player, No. 12 receiver.
The buzz: The Wolverines will have to hold off Alabama for Worthy, one of the nation’s most explosive receivers. He has a slender frame, but can explode in and out of his breaks. Profiles as a downfield threat and could boost U-M’s passing game.