Monday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: Jim Harbaugh looking at taking a second 2015 QB?

Two quarterbacks in 2015?

The race towards National Signing Day will heat up this week when the winter dead period ends and Jim Harbaugh, along with his staff, will be able to visit recruits and have them come to Ann Arbor, as well.

There's not a whole lot of time left with the deadline to sign letters of intent being Feb 4., but Harbaugh has been busy on the recruiting trail since he was on the plane en route to Ann Arbor, so they should be able to fill their remaining slots rather easily.

We're looking at Michigan probably ending up with 14-16 commits before it is all said and done, but one position that we haven't heard much about is at quarterback, where the program has had their guy, four-star Alex Malzone, committed since May. On Sunday afternoon, we learned that a second quarterback being taken could be an option.

Jim Harbaugh coming to Gilmer to see McLane Carter. He has a pretty good eye for qb's. Florida and Texas Tech just called as well.#Winner

— Jeff Traylor (@CoachTraylor) January 11, 2015

So who is McLane Carter?

Carter is a 2015 quarterback prospect out of Gilmer, Texas. At 6-3, 190, he is unranked by all of the major recruiting services. All that there is on him right now is his senior highlight package on Hudl.

In looking at his film, it is a bit surprising that he is unranked. There's a lot to like about his game and some of his flaws appear to be coachable. He is a dual-threat guy who moves very well in the pocket and can use his legs to make plays. His arm strength leaves a bit to be desired, but his accuracy is fantastic. In many of the throws on his film, he puts the ball in the best possible place he can for his receiver to make a play.

Harbaugh taking a look at another quarterback is not a slight to Malzone in the least bit. He is a talented prospect and the staff will honor all previous commitments to the university. Harbaugh is a quarterback at heart and enjoys coaching them, so taking a flyer on a project is not a huge surprise.

In fact, he's taken multiple QBs in recruiting classes several times, as our Joshua Henschke pointed out on Sunday.

In his four recruiting classes at Stanford (2007-10), Harbaugh took multiple players at the position three times. The lone time only one quarterback was taken was in 2008, when a gentleman named Andrew Luck stepped onto campus.

2010's class saw Stanford take four signal-callers, though there was some attrition and position changes. Out of these four, only two ended up on the roster and one was a quarterback in the end.

That's not to say that will happen at Michigan, necessarily, but there is a staff in place now that has shown they are willing to stock up on quarterbacks and see where it goes. As many will point out, really only one of those players panned out (Luck), while the other that has been successful is Taysom Hill, who transferred to BYU and has played well there.

Harbaugh should have an easier time in Ann Arbor bringing in higher-rated quarterbacks, but as he said in his opening presser, he considers himself a construction guy. He likes to build programs and quarterbacks.

Iman Marshall taking official visit next week

After weeks of speculation, 2015's top cornerback, five-star Iman Marshall, will be taking an official visit to Michigan on Jan. 19, according to his Twitter account.

@EMcKinneyESPN no I'm going to Michigan on the 19th and Lsu on the 23rd

— Biggie (@iman_marshall8) January 9, 2015

Getting Marshall on campus is big for a lot of reasons. He did have some interest in the program while Brady Hoke's staff was recruiting him, but his interest went down as their jobs became more and more in jeopardy. He said that if Harbaugh was hired at Michigan, he would be more interested and would take an official visit. A week from Monday, they'll be able to make their pitch.

Just because an official visit is taking place doesn't mean he's coming. It's going to be tough to pull him from the west coast, but new defensive coordinator DJ Durkin has a track record of developing talent on the defensive side of the ball and the chance to play opposite Jabrill Peppers could be an attractive one. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

That's it for Monday. Check back in Wednesday for the latest in Michigan football recruiting.