Photo Credit: Hack.com

Inside the Fish Bowl is Bringing the Noise

Posted onAuthorGarrett Fishaw

The recruiting world has been a little slow over the past couple weeks but that is sure to change starting on Friday. That is when the silent period ends and the coaches can begin visiting players around the country. And Michigan’s staff will be racking up the miles right away.

Bring the Noise

According to both Wolverine247’s Steve Lorenz and Scout’s Allen Trieu, the Michigan coaching will be all over the country with the end of the silent period to meet up with their top targets in the 2017 and 2018 class. The expected visitors list includes:

Plenty of others will receive visits, including most, if not all, of the current commitments. So, make sure you follow @MGoFish, @EvanPaputa and @harrimilo for updates throughout the weekend.

Commitment Coming Soon

First, props to The Wolverine’s Brandon Brown has turned a simple emoji into a new calling card for Michigan football recruiting on Twitter:

When the bee drops, the fans start to freak. And this “buzz” looks to be coming in the next week, per Brown.

I’m still doing some digging and reading the tea leaves to try and figure out who exactly is about to drop but, either way, it looks like Michigan is about to add another nice recruit to the 2017 class.

Florida Favorites

Satellite camps or not, Michigan has turned Florida into a recruiting priority and it’s clearly working out as 247Sports’ Ryan Bartow was able to catch up with a handful of 2017 targets that hold UM offers out of the Sunshine State and things are looking good early on. That includes WR Jordan Palmer, DT Kedonis Haslem, RB Mike Epstein, DE Jordan Wright, 2019 DE Ge’mon Eaford and 2019 RB Daniel Carter.

Now, I’m not sure how high any of the 2017 names listed above actually sit on the staff’s board. Most look to be second to third tier options at this point.

As for names that are very much in the running to be a part of the 2017 class:

OL Tedarrell Slaton

Slaton is one of the top offensive lineman and players in the class, and looks to be near the very top of the staff’s board. Thanks to him wanting a great education and football program, Michigan is not only in good standing but has held the lead in his recruitment for months now.

The versatile lineman recently told Ryan Bartow, once again, that Michigan “still has the edge” in his recruitment ($). If UM can maintain that lead, they could end up pulling one of the top players out of Florida in 2017, which should only piss off the SEC coaches even more.

CB Stanford Samuels III

While, at this point, believe Michigan will sign Slaton, Samuels is a top Florida target that I still fully expect to end up elsewhere. And yes, that still is the case after his recent top list tweet:

I’m sticking with my source’s word that they would be completely shocked if SSIII ends up at Michigan. Still sticking with Florida State here until something changes.

CB Randall Haynie

So, one top target looks very possible to end up at Michigan while another is very unlikely. How about a second tier target? Well, at this point, it looks like UM may end up pulling an up and coming corner out of Florida in recently offered CB Randall Haynie.

Haynie told Bartow that Michigan is his leader at the moment, and this comes before he’s even visited Ann Arbor. If the staff is able to get him on campus, which is expected, and push for his commitment, they very well may end up adding the Cardinal Gibbons standout to the class.

Big Time Visits Coming Soon?

Michigan is very likely to host a huge list of visitors from now until the fall but there are two very intriguing possible visitors that recently made some news about their visit plans.

RB Najee Harris

Scout’s Greg Biggins caught up with the top player in the class who has been taking visits recently and Michigan is one that could be on the docket. According to the report, Harris is looking to possibly visit Ann Arbor later this spring or summer.

If that happens, it would obviously be a visit to watch extremely close as, though he’s committed to Alabama, Michigan will likely push hard for a player of Harris’ talent.

ATH CJ Cotman

Cotman is another Florida offer that is an intriguing prospect. He has the athleticism to play multiple positions in college and the Michigan staff looks to be keeping a close eye on him.

He caught up with Scout’s Josh Newkirk to talk about his interest in Michigan and a possible visit this summer ($):

I happen to like Michigan, they’re in my top 10 right now,” Cotman said. “But we really don’t communicate like that anymore. We’ve fell off the past couple months since I had got the offer. But they are in my top 10, I am still looking at them.”

Cotman also mentioned his plans to “try” and visit Michigan. If the staff pushes for him, the odds of him making the trek improve greatly.

Latest Offers

Though most of the Michigan football staff has been taking vacations over the last couple weeks, that hasn’t stopped them from extending several offers to players in the 2017 and 2018 classes. That includes:

  • LB Sampson Niu, 6’1” 215lbs. San Diego, CA (Madison)
  • FB Ben Mason, 6’3” 240lbs. Newtown, CT (Newtown)
  • LB Bradley Jennings, 6’1” 220lbs. Jacksonville, FL (Sandalwood)
  • OL Drew Dalman, 6’3” 265lbs. Salinas, CA (Palma)
  • 2018 RB Brian Snead, 5’11” 180lbs. Seffner, FL (Armwood)
  • 2018 OT Antwan Reed, 6’7” 286lbs. Muskegon, MI (Muskegon)

Out of all of the recent offers, Michigan looks to have a fantastic shot at Mason and Reed. Other names to watch are Niu and Snead, as they look to be top targets moving forward.

Photo Credit: hark.com

Garrett Fishaw
Latest posts by Garrett Fishaw (see all)