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Monday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: Looking Way Down The Road

By Nick Bodanyi
Bryan Fuller
Bryan Fuller
MGoBlog

How Good Is Jalil Irvin?

Michigan's third commitment of the 2018 cycle came this weekend in the form of an unheralded, unhyped prospect: a 6'3", 270-pound offensive guard from Stone Mountain, Georgia - one who had grown up in Michigan until the age of 6, coincidentally. A lot of 2018 recruits are currently unranked, so that doesn't mean too much. But how good is he?

Going off of his sophomore film, Jalil looks like he'll probably end up getting a high-three-star or maybe a low-four-star ranking. His athleticism could easily get overlooked for a while, since "burst" or "explosion at the snap" isn't something people worry about with guards. But you don't usually see 270-pound sophomores who can move around like Irvin can.

In fact, Irvin is one of the more pure athletes you'll be able to find at one of the traditional "fat guy" positions. If he does end up being tagged as a three-star, he'll be exactly the kind of three-star Harbaugh always brings in - intriguing and full of upside. Irvin will have the next couple years to work out, gain his necessary weight and refine the athleticism before he makes it on campus. If he continues to put in the work - and with Harbaugh, that's not a question - he could be a guy people look at down the road and wonder why they didn't see it coming.

Nico Collins Names His Top Seven

Michigan has made the cut for four-star wide receiver Nico Collins (Pinson, AL), along with Alabama, LSU, Clemson, FSU, Georgia and Ole Miss. Among those in his official top seven, it's thought that Alabama, Georgia, and Michigan lead the pack.

Funnily enough, those three teams rank #5, #6, and #7 respectively in 247's Composite Team Rankings. Alabama and Michigan have zero combined wide receiver commitments at this time; Georgia already has three. This isn't exactly news, but Collins' recruitment could ultimately come down to Michigan vs. Alabama, and it's definitely a potential barometer for Michigan's ability to recruit talent down south.

Netori Johnson Taking A Closer Look At U-M

Sam Webb talked with four-star offensive tackle Netori Johnson (Ellenwood, GA) on Friday after the Wolverines visited Netori's high school to operate a satellite camp. Johnson, who's currently committed to Georgia, spoke glowingly about the experience.

"This camp was beautiful," Johnson said afterward. "Great! My school hosted it (and) it was banging, man. I didn't expect it to go as well as it did. I didn't expect as many people to come out. There's probably 300-some people and I didn't expect that. A lot of my Cedar grove teammates are here, Michigan came out here and engulfed everything in yellow. ....

"I like the way Harbaugh has everything in control, there's nothing wrong with the program. He went to IMG with the whole team for practice, not too many teams can say they've done that... Michigan is a place I would love to be and one of my teammates went up there, Elysee Mbem-Bosse, so I definitely have to get up there."

"(Mbem-Bosse) wants me to be a Wolverine, man."

Johnson is a big dude at 6'3.5" and 348 pounds, and his athleticism is extremely impressive. It will be very tough to pull him from a Georgia commitment, though; not only is Sam Pittman one of the best offensive line coaches in the country and a great recruiter, Georgia's biggest weak spot in 2015 was the offensive line and Kirby Smart has pulled out every stop imaginable to rectify that.

But, Harbaugh gonna Harbaugh.

In The Hunt For Five-Star DBs

We'll start with five-star 2017 corner Shaun Wade, who attended Michigan's satellite camp at his high school in Jacksonville, Florida this weekend. He spoke like a man who's still going through the recruiting process despite his verbal commitment to Ohio State ($).

Wade has been a Buckeye pledge for almost a year and a half but that has not stopped Michigan from pursuing the No. 3 corner in the country. .... He plans to visit Ohio State, Alabama, Auburn, North Carolina, NC State, Duke, and Virginia Tech on an upcoming tour. Once he has more visits under his belt, he'll continue to weigh options and head toward a final decision near signing day.

"I'm taking all five [official visits] I just don't know where," he said. "That's why I'm trying to narrow it down now. Ohio State is definitely going to be one. There's a couple of other schools in the group for the others. Florida, Michigan, Alabama, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, UCLA and USC. Stanford would be one if I could get in there."

Michigan is in a dog fight with a lot of other schools, and Harbaugh doesn't seem to have as many chips in his favor as he did in the Rashan Gary recruitment, or more recently in the Donovan Peoples-Jones recruitment. However, he's trying, and most recently that came in the form of a scholarship offer for five-star 2018 safety Tyreke Johnson (Jacksonville, FL), who also received a visit from Chris Partridge. Take it away, Rivals ($):

"The Michigan offer was a blessing," he said. "It was an offer that I always wanted because it's such a prestigious school. When you hear Michigan you automatically think of the NFL, and basketball and the ‘Fab 5' and all of that. So the Michigan offer holds a lot of weight." ....

Ohio State is an interesting school to watch because of Shaun Wade's commitment. Johnson and Wade are very close and the idea of playing together at the next level is very appealing to both of them. Notre Dame is another program that gives them that opportunity.

Wade has been recruiting Johnson to play at Ohio State, so there's clearly still a degree of loyalty to the team in Columbus. Michigan can't ultimately steal all of Ohio State's five-star targets, but they're certainly fighting to get in the conversation for them.

Checking In On Michigan's Other 2018 Commits

On the flip side, Ohio State has been fighting Michigan for five-star defensive lineman Leonard Taylor (Springfield, OH), who recently had this to say to Scout ($):

"Right now, I am 100% to Michigan," Taylor said. "I'm just keeping my options open and seeing what other places are like."

Meanwhile, four-star linebacker Antwuan Johnson spoke to Maize 'n' Brew and Scout ($) this week, and looks very solid to the Wolverines.

"Me and Coach Harbaugh talk a lot man," Johnson told Brice Marich of Scout. "He's like my boy. We got a coach player relationship already. We just talk about regular stuff .... like last time we talked on the phone it was about a baby deer being born in his front yard and something like that. He was talking how the kids were getting attached to it and the mom came back."

Blueberries. Hospitals. Deer. Harbaugh just knows how to get to recruits, doesn't he.

Satellite Camp Recaps

Tired of satellite camp updates? Well, Michigan has made it 34% of the way through their June Schedule of Death. Twenty-five more to go, including a June 7th camp in Mobile, Alabama and the June 8th showdown in Jersey.

Here is a tweet-cap of Michigan's trip to Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale, and Rivals has a potpourri of interesting tweets that includes reaction from Australia. Warning: Finebaum.

Other News & Notes

Desean Holmes is slowing down his recruitment just a tad. Both Michigan and Ohio State are in the hunt.

Donovan Peoples-Jones, Jaylen Kelly-Powell, Donovan Johnson and Kalon Gervin won the 4x100 state championship this weekend, while Chris Evans was a part of Indiana's winning group.

Jim Harbaugh had time to give a commencement speech for Saline High School? How is that even humanly possible?

Alabama will be working at a couple of Michigan's satellite camps.

Michigan also offered ($) high-three-star corner Ameer Speed (Jacksonville, FL). Speed is 6'3", 196 pounds and has offers from Florida State, Notre Dame and USC.

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