Friday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: Welcome David Long and Stephen Spanellis

The last few days have provided a perfect example of both the good and bad sides of the recruiting trail when it comes to Michigan Football.

A lot has taken place in the last few days, so let's get right to it, starting with the good:

David Long Commits to Michigan

The biggest news of the week so far comes in the form of 2016 defensive back David Long's (Los Angeles, California) commitment to Michigan.

Long is a four-star prospect and the eighth-ranked cornerback in the class, according to the 247 Composite. He made his announcement during ESPNU's Recruiting Nation show on Thursday evening.

We took a brief look at what Long brings to the Wolverines following his commitment: (FREE)

Long is listed between 5-foot-10 and 6-feet tall depending on the sites you look at. Regardless of how tall he actually is, he possesses the skill set of a player that has a chance to be a really good cornerback at the next level.

Everything he does looks smooth. He has great speed down the field and is a natural at the position. Not many players have the ability to beat him down the field, but when he does get beat he has the athleticism to recover and make a play on the football.

Long is good in both man and zone coverage. He will have to improve his tackling a bit and develop more physically, but he reminds me of Jourdan Lewis coming out of high school.

That is not to say they will have the same career trajectory, but Long certainly has the ability to be an all-conference performer in time at Michigan.

Spanellis Joins the 2016 Fun

Michigan also received a commitment from 2016 offensive lineman Stephen Spanellis (Baltimore, Maryland) on Thursday evening.

Spanellis is a three-star prospect and the 61st-ranked offensive tackle in the class, per 247's Composite. He steps in and joins the class following semi-controversial (among fans) decommitment of Erik Swenson earlier this week.

Like Long, we took a look at Spanellis' skill set following his verbal pledge to the Wolverines: (FREE)

At 6-foot-5, 295 pounds, Spanelis already has good size and strength for a player his age. Most of the plays on his highlight reel end with him pancaking the guy across from him.

He has good first step off the snap of the football and fires out low with a good pad level and finishes his blocks using his upper body strength. He also has good speed and is a capable downfield blocker on screen plays.

Spanellis lines up at right tackle in most of his film, but looks like he may have decent enough footwork and lateral quickness to play inside at guard, as well.

Michigan's coaching staff deserves the benefit of the doubt, but it will be interesting to follow the career paths of Swenson and Spanellis moving forward to see if Jim Harbaugh and company made the correct decision.

The Decommitments Keep Coming

Prior to the two commitments above we just covered, there was also a pair of Wolverine pledges who elected to open things up and look elsewhere on Thursday.

The first was three-star running back Kiante Enis (Winchester, Indiana), who the staff reportedly saw as a defensive back. Rumors had been flying that the staff had not had much contact with him recently, so his decision to decommit is not much of a surprise.

In fact, with the Wolverines needing to have spots available for players they did not forsee being on the board at this point, this helps them out a bit.

The surprising news of Thursday came when three-star cornerback Antwaine Richardson (Delray Beach, Florida) announced that he was reopening his recruitment.

Michigan really liked what Richardson brought to the table after earning his offer with an injured ACL. He sat out his senior season, but the staff knew was the deal was when he was offered and committed, so the fact that he decided to decommit is surprising and certainly has the look of something that came from his end.

Four commits have left the class in the last week or so, but none have really been ones that were too unexpected, aside from Richardson's.

This is how things go this time of year. And it should continue to be a roller coaster ride as we sprint towards National Signing Day on Feb. 3.

Who's Next?

The most popular question on the recruiting trail after a player joins the program is, "who is next to commit?"

This time of year, anything can happen, but there are of course more than a few candidates.

The leaders in the clubhouse to drop next seem to be tight end Chase Allen, wide receiver Eddie McDoom and defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour. Allen and Dwumfour visited last weekend, while McDoom will be taking his official to Ann Arbor this weekend.

McDoom seems like a safe bet due to his comments earlier this week following his decommitment from Oregon. He said he will visit Michigan and if things go well, he will pull the trigger.

The staff is a big fan of McDoom and he is rumored to be one of their top remaining players on the board, so he is absolutely a take.

We will see what happens from here, but more good news should be on the way shortly for Michigan.