The impact of 2024 five-star QB Jadyn Davis’ commitment to Michigan

Ladies and gentlemen — we got him.

Five-star quarterback Jadyn Davis announced his commitment to Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines on Friday afternoon. The No. 4 quarterback and No. 24 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting cycle chose Michigan over Ohio State, Clemson, North Carolina and Tennessee.

This is obviously huge news, but here are a few ways this impacts the team and recruiting moving forward.

Michigan finally gets another elite QB prospect

It’s been three recruiting cycles since Michigan has received a commitment from a high caliber quarterback — J.J. McCarthy in 2021 — and that could not be more important for a program that was in dire need of another one.

The perspective of Michigan quarterback recruiting hasn’t been great the last few cycles. The Wolverines whiffed on five-star Dante Moore in the 2023 class and took Kendrick Bell — Ronnie Bell’s brother — who may not even be a quarterback in college. Then, in 2022, Michigan settled for two developmental prospects in Alex Orji and Jayden Denegal after missing out on top targets like Drew Allar (Penn State), Maalik Murphy (Texas) and Nate Johnson (Utah), to name a few.

The Wolverines should be able to get an elite quarterback every other cycle, at the very least. It’s been a bit too long since they’ve received a commitment from one, so it’s nice to say that cold streak is finally behind them.

And it may not take very long for the Wolverines to get another great quarterback, as they are going after several elite talents in the 2025 class — five-star Bryce Underwood, five-star Cutter Boley and five-star George MacIntyre. Ryan Montgomery and Stone Saunders are unranked at the moment, but will likely be four-star players when they do get ranked.

This sets up Michigan post-McCarthy

There’s no denying a lot of quality players will probably be leaving after the 2023 season. Blake Corum, Donovan Edwards, J.J. McCarthy, Zak Zinter, Trevor Keegan, Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson are all known commodities that very well could be in the 2024 NFL Draft, and that’s just on offense.

But let’s stick to the quarterbacks in this section (we’ll talk about the other positions in just a second).

If McCarthy declares for the NFL Draft after his upcoming junior season, the Wolverines wouldn’t have been in the best spot at quarterback had they not received Davis’ commitment. Jack Tuttle only has eligibility for the 2023 season; Davis Warren has shown flashes but hasn’t had enough live reps for me to be fully confident in him; Alex Orji can do some nice things in the run game but hasn’t shown what he can do with his arm yet; Jayden Denegal didn’t throw a single pass last season as a true freshman and will likely only get playing time in mop up duty in 2023, if at all.

Getting this commitment ensures an elite quarterback will have a shot at starting the 2024 season if McCarthy does indeed head to the NFL after 2023. If he did start right away, Davis would be Michigan’s first true freshman starting quarterback since Tate Forcier in 2010. And even if Davis doesn’t start right away, I’d be willing to bet he’d see the field similar to McCarthy his freshman season, meaning he would get meaningful snaps and experience and be prepared for when he does become the starter.

Top recruits want to play with other top recruits

It’s no secret that good football players want to play with other good football players. I have always believed the best way to get better at something — whether it’s a sport, hobby, whatever it is — is to be around people who are already better than you at whatever it is you are trying to improve upon.

Having a top quarterback in your class will not only attract top players on offense, but it will also help with top defensive players, too. What football player, regardless of position, wouldn’t want to have a top flight quarterback to help them get better? Help the team get better? Achieve your goals together?

Back when J.J. McCarthy was a Michigan commit, he helped attract top ranked targets — regardless of position — to Ann Arbor. I fully anticipate Davis to do the exact same thing and help the Wolverines get some of their top targets.

With Davis now in the fold with the likes of four-star running back Jordan Marshall, four-star safety Jacob Oden and four-star tight end Hogan Hansen, Michigan’s 2024 class should be one of the best of the Harbaugh era.