Thursday Recruiting Roundup: More top targets getting close to committing

Welcome in to this week’s Thursday Michigan Recruiting Roundup!

The dog days of summer are essentially here, as the in-person recruiting dead period continues. Despite that taking place, some of Michigan’s top targets are set to announce commitments very soon, with a couple of them being next week. Let’s take a closer look at some of those prospects in today’s roundup.

Drew Kendall looking to decide soon

One of Michigan’s final targets along the offensive line in the 2021 class is four-star guard Drew Kendall. The 6-foot-4, 255-pounder from Massachusetts has been a longtime top target for Ed Warinner, and he continues to be just that.

Kendall recently spoke with 247Sports’ Brian Dohn ($) about his timeline, and he admitted he is looking to make a final decision “in the next month,” but it won’t be easy.

“It’s going to be really tough because (visits) were going to be a huge part of my decision,” Kendall said. “I haven’t seen Stanford yet. I saw Penn State a long time ago. But right now I am getting to know the coaches really well because all there is to do is Zoom and FaceTime.”

But when it comes down to it, Kendall said the final decision is going to come down to where he thinks he can “maximize my potential.” He also said he is looking at the depth charts at each of his top schools, even though he isn’t “too worried about depth and competition.”

If Kendall makes a decision sooner rather than later, I think Michigan will be the choice. If he continues to wait it out, I’m not so sure the Wolverines will get his commitment. We will see, but I am looking at this recruitment with cautious optimism.

Other schools in the running for Kendall include Boston College, Stanford, Duke, Virginia and Penn State.

Cristian Dixon’s cryptic tweets are nothing to worry about

If you pay close attention to recruiting, you may have noticed 2021 four-star wide receiver Cristian Dixon tweeting over the last few days regarding whether or not he should drop his commitment video. At one point, he said he would if he got to 2,000 followers, and then later on moved it to 3,000 followers.

In an interview with The Michigan Insider’s Sam Webb ($), Cristian’s mother admits she and her son are a lot alike, including stirring up some drama for fun.

“It’s getting to him,” Mrs. Dixon said regarding recruiting. “Some of the attention is a little unwanted. I know for me, first time I got photographed and no one even told me, it was like, ‘oh wow, I’m not ready for this.’ So, it is (stressful). And some of his tweets — as much as you want to pay attention to them, you don’t want to necessarily always take them too seriously. (Laughter). He likes the shock factor. He gets that from me. Sometimes we might say some crazy things to see what (response) we’re going to get. And I can tell you he has been messing with a lot of his friends because a lot of them are committing, and people are teasing him and telling him where he’s going to go. And he’s like, y’all don’t know.’”

There you have it. Just a kid trying to have a little fun with his recruitment. We see these at least once per cycle with a kid Michigan is going after, so this kinda stuff shouldn’t surprise.

No one knows when Dixon will commit, but whenever he does, I believe he will choose the Maize and Blue. Josh Gattis has been recruiting him for a while now, and it doesn’t seem like many of the other schools on his top list are going after him as hard as Michigan is. Unless something wild happens in this recruitment, I expect him to wind up in Ann Arbor.

Two top targets announce commitment dates

Two more of Michigan’s top 2021 targets will be committing next week, with four-star defensive end Dallas Turner committing on July 1 and three-star cornerback Tyreek Chappell committing on July 4.

In this case, I don’t expect Michigan to receive a pledge from either player. Turner has been pretty open about his recruitment, and at one time said Alabama and Georgia were higher than the other schools on his top list. I believe either the Bulldogs or Crimson Tide will receive good news on July 1.

As for Chappell, the crystal balls are favoring Texas A&M at the moment. Other top schools for him include U-M, Tennessee, Pitt and West Virginia, but it looks like Jimbo Fisher and company are set to receive a commitment on the Fourth of July.

Despite the Wolverines not leading for either recruit, I still do anticipate them to, at the very least, continue recruiting Chappell since they are light on defensive backs in this class. They have other targets on the defensive line to go after, including four-stars George Rooks and Rayshaun Benny, so while it may seem wise to keep recruiting a top 50 guy, I wouldn’t anticipate much else if Turner does commit elsewhere on July 1.

That’s all for this week! Check back on Tuesday for another roundup.