2022 four-star defender visiting this summer would fit perfectly in Michigan’s defense

On this week’s Future Brew, Von and Jon discuss some of the most recently-confirmed visitors planning to stop by Ann Arbor in the near future, including 2022 four-star defensive end Justice Finkley, who is among the more versatile prospects the Wolverines are going after in his class.

Von: Michigan usually has a big recruiting event in mid-to-late-June, and this year it kinda sounds like they are already setting that up. It’s called “Victors Weekend,” it’s gonna be from June 18-20 and visitors are already beginning to line up for this event. Let’s talk about one guy who is among one of the top defensive linemen for Michigan in the 2022 class, and that’s Justice Finkley. He’s a four-star from Alabama and he has set his official visit for “Victors Weekend.” He is the No. 6 player in his state, No. 7 strongside defensive end and No. 130 overall player in his class. He’s listed at 6-foot-2, 255, which in my opinion could probably be an outside linebacker in this new defense. This is not a typical recruitment you’d see from a prospect in Alabama. Jon, where do you think things stand today, and where do you think things could end up going if Michigan ends up knocking this visit out of the park?

Jon: I think this recruitment is going to be similar to (five-star defensive lineman) Walter Nolen, where Michigan is perceived to not really have a shot until the recruitment keeps going and they’re one of the last schools left. He has that Alabama offer, and I certainly think it’s committable. So I think that’s one of the hardest things to do is pull a guy out of Alabama that Nick Saban wants. This will be his second visit; he took an unofficial for the Ohio State game in 2019, so he’s had interest for a long time. I think Mike Macdonald comparing him to Matt Judon is a good tactic. Definitely makes him feel wanted. I think a lot of people think he would be best with his hand in the ground as a defensive end, that really speaks to his versatility. I know when he was in Baltimore, Macdonald had a lot of bigger guys at outside linebacker, bigger than a traditional 3-4, so he certainly has the tape that he could show Finkley to back up his assertion and show him what he wants and give him that vision. Barring a really good official visit, Michigan will be in this race for a while. He did list a lot of schools he wants to visit, so this recruitment may take a while.

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