Superlatives for Michigan Football Recruiting 2019

Michigan football received 25 letters of intent* Wednesday, locking up yet another top-10 recruiting class under Jim Harbaugh.

While the final National Signing Day is still a month and a half away, the Wolverines currently possess the No. 7 class in the 247Sports composite for 2019.

As a whole, it’s the best class in the Midwest. Individually, it’s a versatile mix of elite athletes. Among them, who’s the fastest, or tallest or heaviest?

The answers for that, and much more, or below in this year’s recruiting class superlatives.

*Quinten Johnson has signed, but will announce officially with his high school teammates in February. George Johnson III will announce at 3:15 p.m. ET. Still waiting on Amauri Pesek-Hickson.

FASTEST: Daxton Hill, Safety

National Signing Day’s biggest shocker is also the speediest member of the class. Hill ran a laser-timed 4.3-second 40-yard dash back in late April.

The speed translates to the field.

The next closest would be four-star slot Giles Jackson from Oakley, Cali. He sports a 4.43-second 40 recorded at the Nike Opening Finals back in July.

TALLEST: Trevon Keegan and Trente Jones, offensive tackles

Both check in at 6-foot-6, figuring to bookend the offensive line at left and right tackle. In terms of skill position players, four-star tight end Erick All stands 6-foot-4.

Four-star receiver Cornelius Johnson is 6-foot-3, almost the same height as fellow Connecticut prep school wideout Tarik Black.

HEAVIEST: Zach Carpenter, guard, and Keegan

The 6-foot-5 Carpenter already tips the scales at 310 for Archbishop Moeller in Cincinnati. Keegan weighs the same, but likely needs to redistribute some weight before he’s college-ready.

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HIGHEST-RANKED: Daxton Hill

The gem of the class is the No. 8 player nationally, and the sixth-highest player ever signed by Michigan according to 247 Sports.

California back Zach Charbonnet and Georgia defensive end Chris Hinton are also top-50 prospects. Charbonnet, in particular, dominated against one of the most competitive areas of the country in Southern California.

Here he is ripping off big runs in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

MOST UNDER THE RADAR: Joey Velazquez, Viper

The two-sport athlete out of Columbus, Ohio ranks outside the top-1000 on the Composite, settling in at No. 1014.

A 6-foot, 205-pound safety at St. Francis De Sales, Don Brown has specifically pegged him for the Viper spot on defense. He also comes to Ann Arbor with motivation to prove his local doubters wrong.

HIGHEST SPARQ SCORE: Hill, followed by Quinten Johnson, safety

Chris Partridge is possibly getting the nation’s best safety haul. He certainly is getting the most athletic one.

Hill earned a 143.76 SPARQ score, good for second in the country. He ran the aforementioned 40-yard dash and 4.33-second shuttle, leapt 43.6 inches in the vertical and tossed the power ball 41.5 feet.

Nipping at his heels is four-star Washington safety Quinten Johnson. The St. John’s Collegiate product ranks No. 8 on the list. He was timed at 4.48 seconds in the 40 and 4.17 in the shuttle at The Opening Finals. He also notched a 47-foot power ball throw and 35-inch vertical.

CLOSEST TO ANN ARBOR: Karsen Barnhart, tackle/guard

The four-star played his high school ball at Paw Paw High in west Michigan, just 115 miles away from Ann Arbor.

Four-star nose tackle Mazi Smith is a close second, hailing from East Kentwood, Mich. — just 128 miles away near Grand Rapids.

FURTHEST FROM ANN ARBOR: Zach Charbonnet, running back

The near five-star back out of Thousand Oaks, Calif. has to trek 2,273 miles to get to southeastern Michigan. That’s 34 hours of consecutive driving.

Damonte Ranch, Nev. quarterback Cade McNamara is the only other recruit that would be traveling over 2,000 miles.

MOST REPRESENTED STATE: Ohio

The Buckeye State is sending six commitments over the Toledo border to the Wolverine State. The group includes four-star guard Nolan Rumler (Akron), Erick All (Fairfield), Zach Carpenter (Cincinnati), three-star weak side end Gabe Newburg (Clayton), three-star receiver Quintel Kent (Lakewood) and Velazquez (Columbus).

Florida and Georgia produced four pledges each, as well.

BIGGEST MISS: Zach Harrison to Ohio State

On the surface, a five-star defensive end in Ohio State’s backyard should always be expected to stick around Columbus. Zach Harrison is a different story.

Edge linebackers coach Al Washington pressed hard for Harrison from the beginning, but only after the Zach Smith scandal did it seem possible to gain his commitment.

Recruiting analysts started calling him a Wolverine lean all the way up until the 62-39 rout in the Horseshoe. Afterwards, Urban Meyer announced his future retirement, which reportedly appealed to Harrison. The rest is history.

FLIP-A-PALOOZA

This class saw more flips than a Soviet gymnast.

There’s Daxton Hill’s wild 11-day decommit-turned-recommit, of course. There’s also Dacula, Ga. cornerback Jalen Perry spurning Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs, as well as Anthony Solomon’s switch last weekend from Miami (Fla.).

Three-star strong side end Mike Morris, a longtime Florida State legacy, changed his pledge from the Seminoles to the Wolverines in early September.

Lastly, Everett (Mass.) slot Mike Saintrisil dropped his commitment to Virginia Tech in late October, verbally pledging to Michigan just two weeks later.

ELITE IN-STATERS

Four future Wolverines were the top players in their respective states in one way or another.

Three of them — McNamara out of Nevada, Saintrisil out of Massachusetts and Johnson out of Connecticut — represented their states as Gatorade Players of the Year.

All were ranked as the top players in-state per 247 Sports. Trevor Keegan also topped the rankings for Illinois.