The freshman class that Michigan signed last week is ranked 17th in the 247 composite rankings, 17th to Rivals, and 19th to On3, The class has, pending their pursuit of 5-star Nyckoles Harbor in the later signing period, zero top-100 players. This is quite clearly below the level Michigan normally recruits at. To have a class like that after a second straight year of beating Ohio State by three scores, winning the Big Ten championship, and going to the Playoff is, without question, a disappointment. I'm one of the people who kept saying over the first half-decade of Harbaugh that beating Ohio State was the key to unlocking a higher level of recruiting. So far, it has not. This has led to two major questions about the 2023 class, which might be seen as the optimistic and pessimistic versions of the same question: Pessimist: Why is a 13-0 Michigan recruiting like 8-5 Michigan? Optimist: Is this class like the 2018 class? Every other question is another form of what this all signifie
So this is unprecedented. As of writing this Michigan has already brought in five transfers in the week since the portal opened. They are widely expected to be adding a sixth in Indiana TE AJ Barner. What is going on? Did something change? Did we become the new Portal U? Well, I thought we should talk about it. PORTAL? Much of what Brian went through last week is still true. Zach Shaw of 247 wrote a comprehensive assessment of Michigan's needs yesterday that isn't behind a paywall so I'll just point you to that. Updates by position, with some additional scouting thoughts: Cornerback: There are a lot of names out there and very little to suggest Michigan is making any headway with them. They're facing elite competition for Virginia's Fentrell Cypress, who's made visits to FSU and UCLA and "doesn't talk much about Ohio State" it may be he's looking to go somewhere warm. UNC's Tony Grimes, whom Michigan recruited hard out of high scho