New Michigan Man: DL David Ojabo Commits to Michigan

The commitments just keep coming for the maize and blue. Greg Mattison has been a beast on the recruiting front during his time in Ann Arbor and he just added yet another nice get to his future defensive line as Blair Academy (NJ) DL David Ojabo has committed to Michigan.

Commitment

Scouting Report

Ojabo is Nigerian-born and has only played one year of organized football in the United States after moving to New Jersey from Scotland. Though new to the game, he has all of the physical traits defensive line coaches are looking for in a prospect. He’s athletic with great size and a good motor. While he may start off at strong side defensive end, he has the frame to play on the inside once he puts on some more size.

Recruitment

Like his former teammate and current Penn State freshmen DE Jayson Oweh, Ojabo was a late bloomer on the recruiting trail. He didn’t receive his first offer until in-state Rutgers came calling at the end of November 2017. That was followed by several Ivy League/second-tier offers at the start of the new year until the likes of Penn State, Michigan and Notre Dame came calling in mid-April.

Penn State was the heavy favorite on the Crystal Ball predictions early on here but it was Michigan that swung momentum completely following his first visit/camp to Ann Arbor in mid-June. That visit went so well that he announced his plan to commit just a couple weeks after leaving town. And, as expected, he committed to the Wolverines, giving Greg Mattison another international lineman with a very high ceiling to develop into an impactful player.

  • Height: 6’5”
  • Weight: 235lbs
  • Hometown (School): Scotland/Blairstown, NJ (Blair Academy)
  • Notable Offers: Penn State, Notre Dame, Clemson, Harvard, Ohio State, Michigan State
  • Ranking: Rivals (3*, #41 SDE) – 247Sports (3*, #36 SDE) -ESPN (4*, #37 DE)
  • Composite Ranking: Three-star, #488 Overall, #32 SDE, #10 in New Jersey

Highlights

As for the Rest of the Class

Ojabo is the 16th overall commitment, the 5th defensive line commitment, and the first commitment of the class out of New Jersey. Though there’s already five nice additions to the defensive line, there are several prospects still highly on the board. That includes elite prospects DE George Karlaftis (committed to Purdue), DE Zach Harrison and DE/LB Aeneas DiCosmo. I feel good about Michigan adding at least one of those names, possibly two given how the fall goes. As for the next name to drop, the safe bet is S/LB Quinten Johnson, who is expected to announce his decision during The Opening this week.

Photo Credit: Irish Sports Daily 

Garrett Fishaw