Michigan football: 5 recruits most likely to sign with Michigan Wolverines

If Michigan football can land these five recruits, it would be incredible.

Michigan football has a tremendous opportunity to get ahead in 2021 recruitment.

Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines have the No. 7 recruiting class for 2021in 247Sports‘ eyes. They have 19 players committed, nine four-stars, nine three-stars and five-star pro-style quarterback J.J. McCarthy of the IMG Academy down in Bradenton, Florida via La Grange Park, Illinois. Michigan has the second-best Big Ten recruiting class right now behind only Ohio State.

Despite its blue-blood status, Michigan always has an uphill battle when it comes to recruitment because of the tough academic standards in place with the university. Add in the state of Michigan not having as many blue-chip prospects in-state as other nearby ones in Ohio and Pennsylvania, so here we are.

Obviously, Michigan needs to figure out how to beat the Ohio State Buckeyes at some point during the next few Thanksgiving Weekends. If the Wolverines can find a way to do that, they can be in position to play in the Big Ten Conference Championship game for the first time in school history. A win in Indianapolis means the Wolverines can play for the College Football Playoff.

So with that in mind, it is more important than ever to win on the recruiting trails to give Michigan the best chance as possible to compete with the other Big Ten blue-bloods like Ohio State, Penn State and the Wisconsin Badgers on a big stage. If Michigan can find away to come up with these five four-star recruits, they will assure themselves of a top-10 recruiting class for 2021.

Here are the five recruits Michigan football has to come up with for 2021.

The Wolverines will have their opportunity to land one of the better offensive tackles in the country and one of the better players in-state in the form of Rayshaun Benny. At 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds, the Oak Park High School standout is the No. 6 player from Michigan, the No. 19 offensive tackle in the country and the No. 189 player in this particular recruiting class.

Benny has 40 offers, but is looking really hard at four schools: Michigan, the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Kentucky Wildcats and the Penn State Nittany Lions. There are great reasons to play at all four schools, but one would think Michigan has the leg up on the in-state prospect from Oak Park. The allure of playing in the SEC is appealing, but so is playing nearby in the Big Ten East.

His primary recruiter is tight ends coach Sherrone Moore with defensive line coach Shaun Nua serving as his secondary recruiter. Moore has been the primary recruiter on two Michigan five-stars in safety Daxton Hill from Tulsa, Oklahoma and quarterback J.J. McCarthy from La Grange Park, Illinois.  Nua has helped net three four-stars while in his short time at Michigan.

Though one would think Michigan would have to be the favorite for Benny’s commitment, Sam Pittman can really recruit offensive lineman at Arkansas. Mark Stoops has dominated recruiting in the Midwest while at Kentucky. James Franklin has Penn State on the cusp of a playoff berth. Simply put, Michigan can’t afford to let a player like Benny leave for Penn State or for the SEC.