Recruiting Roundup: Top remaining target sets decision date two days after planned visit

Michigan’s second bye week is upon us, which gives the coaches another chance to spread out across the country and try to convince their top targets to don the Maize and Blue. While news of their visits probably won’t come out until after the weekend, they clearly have been doing some evaluation of senior film to expand their board. This week’s roundup has updates on some of the guys they have recently targeted and more, so let’s get right to it.

Top-100 TE announces decision date

One of the highest-ranked recruits still on Michigan’s board in 2020 is tight end Theo Johnson. The Canadian prospect has been hard to read about who his leader is during his recruitment, but he apparently is closing in on a decision soon.

Johnson posted on Twitter Tuesday night that he’ll be announcing his college decision on Nov. 18th. This is notable for Michigan given that he is expected to be on campus for the Wolverines’ game against Michigan State on the 16th. If he sticks to that plan it certainly bodes well for their chances in this race.

2020 OT sets Michigan trip

Offensive tackle is clearly a position the staff wants to add another player, and three-star James Pogorelc has shot to near the top of the board.

The late riser from Virginia has added offers from Michigan, Stanford, UNC, Tennessee, NC State and others since the season started, and the Wolverines have clearly stood out.

His interest is coming to fruition with an unofficial visit planned for the Michigan State game next weekend, according to 247Sports’ Brian Dohn ($).

“Flight booked,” Pogorelc said.

The 6-foot-7, 260-pound tackle has already taken an unofficial visit to Stanford, after which he picked up a handful of crystal balls. Notably he hasn’t taken any officials yet, so this recruitment could stretch out to the February signing period if he wants to visit his top schools once again.

Michigan offers 2021 three-star TE

Michigan jumped into the race for a tight end in the 2021 class a few days ago by extending an offer to three-star Thomas Fidone. The Iowa native caught up with The Michigan Insider’s Brice Marich to discuss the offer ($).

“It means a ton. It’s a huge offer and it’s big for my recruitment process with another big out of state offer,” Fidone said. “I do like how they used their tight ends and coach Harbaugh uses them well.”

Fidone said it’ll be hard for him to schedule any visits with his team’s playoff schedule, but he does “want to see and learn more just about the school, coaches, how I would fit in.”

Two out of the three crystal balls for Fidone are foggy, with the other being for Iowa. In addition to Iowa and Michigan, he holds offers from LSU, Iowa State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern and West Virginia.

In-state top 100 RB loves recent visit

Unquestionably one of the top targets on the board for 2021 is four-star running back Donovan Edwards. He picked a great game to attend a couple of weeks ago when he witnessed Michigan demoralize Notre Dame on the ground. TMI’s Marich recently caught up with Edwards about what he thought about the visit ($).

“It was a great game as they played Notre Dame. I left at halftime because the rain was getting to me, so I had to go home (laughter),” Edwards said. “It was a great environment. The whole stand was packed even with it cold and raining. The environment was amazing. It was electric.”

Besides the environment, Edwards came away impressed with the play of Michigan’s running backs.

“I think Haskins played like an animal. Every time he touched the ball, he had nothing, but positive yards like five plus yards,” said Edwards. “I think that was amazing for the Michigan team and showed me a lot.”

Edwards says he doesn’t have any other visits mapped out yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the sidelines when Michigan plays Ohio State at the end of the season.

That finishes up another Wednesday Recruiting Roundup here at Maize n Brew. Come back again soon to get your fill of recruiting news for Michigan football.