Michigan defensive back Jaylen Kelly-Powell enters the transfer portal

Jaylen Kelly-Powell, who was set to enter his senior season with the Michigan Wolverines, has elected to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal. The news was first pointed out by Rainer Sabin of the Detroit Free Press. The defensive back enters as a graduate transfer and will be eligible for a redshirt season having only played in three contests in 2019.

Kelly-Powell suited up for the Wolverines in 20 career games after being a four-star recruit and the nation’s 21st-ranked safety prospect in the 2017 recruiting class coming out of Cass Tech in Detroit. He split time at safety and cornerback in his college career, the latter of which he played in his final season at Michigan and leaves with nine career tackles to his resume.

With a cornerback room next year that features Ambry Thomas and Vincent Gray and young talented prospects like Andre Seldon and Darion Green-Warren entering the mix on top of other players on the depth chart, perhaps the writing was just on the wall for Kelly-Powell.

Michigan’s 2017 recruiting class was ranked fifth in the nation with 30 commits and 14 have transferred without making much of an impact on the field. And in the fact that wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones and offensive lineman Cesar Ruiz left for the NFL this year and it brings the total to 16 players who never saw their senior seasons at Michigan. Four of the top ten players from that class remain in defensive end Luiji Vilain cornerback Ambry Thomas, offensive lineman Chuck Filiaga and quarterback Dylan McCaffrey.