Two 2023 recruits begin midweek official visits to Michigan today

Contradictory to what we said on this week’s Future Brew podcast, there are not one, but two recruits the Michigan Wolverines are hosting on midweek official visits starting today.

Midweek official visits haven’t been incredibly common for the Wolverines over the last few cycles, but they are hoping to impress a pair of prospects for the next few days in a more one-on-one setting. It’s been a long time since Michigan acquired a commitment in the 2023 class — March 29 — so perhaps one of these two guys could be the next one.

Let’s talk about these two guys a little more in depth.

Phil Picciotti, three-star LB

The recruit who Jon Simmons and I did talk about on Future Brew this week, alluding to his midweek official visit, was 2023 three-star linebacker Phil Picciotti. The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder hails from Perkasie, Pennsylvania and was thought to be a lean to Penn State for a while. Perhaps he was at some point, but he eliminated the Nittany Lions from his top list of schools entirely, a list that includes Michigan, Oklahoma, Auburn and Nebraska.

This visit to Michigan will be his third official visit in the month of June, as he already visited Oklahoma the weekend of June 3 and Nebraska last weekend. He also has an Auburn official visit slated for the weekend of June 24.

The Sooners are the leader in this recruitment, as they reportedly knocked the visit out of the park for Picciotti. Michigan will have to do just as much, if not more, than Oklahoma did to try and secure a commitment from him. With the options at the linebacker position running slim, this is an important visit for Michigan.

Picciotti is the No. 38 linebacker and No. 445 overall prospect on 247Sports’ composite.

Nathan Leacock, three-star WR

According to a report from On3’s EJ Holland ($) Monday evening, the second midweek official visitor in Ann Arbor starting today is 2023 three-star North Carolina wide receiver Nathan Leacock.

He is a semi-new target for Ron Bellamy and company. They offered Leacock back in April during the spring evaluation period. He is tall (6-foot-3), big (200 pounds) and has the speed to boot, as he also runs track in high school.

After reading that, you may be asking yourself, “Why isn’t he ranked higher if he is big and fast?” Well, Holland noted a flaw in Leacock’s game is his current inability to run routes. He is reportedly very raw in that aspect of the game and will need to work on it. Of course, this was also a knock on Nico Collins heading into college, and we all know how that turned out.

If that’s the one issue with his game right now, I would take that and make sure he gets it before it’s ready for him to suit up. Being a former receiver, Bellamy can work with him on that aspect of the game, and I’m sure 2023 Michigan wide receiver commit Semaj Morgan could teach him a thing or two as well.