LOOK: Recap of Michigan’s early signing day

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In typical Harbaugh fashion, Michigan’s early signing day enjoyed some interesting and fun storylines as they went about their business. The early signing day appears to have gone well as 16 of Wolverine commits signed their letter of intent today. U of M’s class currently sits at No. 12 nationally and third in the Big Ten according to 24/7 sports.

Michigan’s brand has always helped when it came to recruiting nationally, and today it appears that reach was global too. Michigan nabbed Germany’s top prospect, Julius Welschof, a 6’6” defensive end out of Miesbach, Germany. Welschof was previously committed to Georgia Tech.

Welschof was not the only German to sign his letter of intent to Michigan today, as twin defensive backs German and Gemon Greene both signed.  The two defensive backs are both lengthy 6’2” 3-stars from DeSoto, Texas. Two twins in the backfield could be a cool combination to see for the Wolverines in years to come.

The Wolverines signed two more defensive backs from the south, Sammy Faustin and Myles “Spider” Sims from Florida and Georgia, respectively. Sims is an exciting big-time recruit that Harbaugh was able to steal from SEC country. Aubrey Solomon also came by way of Georgia in last year’s recruiting cycle and proved to be a quality asset for the Wolverines.

A couple of Michigan’s highest-ranked commits also made it official today including four-star quarterback Joe Milton and four-star tight end Mustapha Muhammad. Both will enter into competition right away as both their position groups already have a number of guys expected to compete for starting jobs. However, both have talent that should provide excitement for the future.

Cameron McGrone, a four-star linebacker out of Indianapolis, who plays in a similar fashion as current Michigan linebacker Devin Bush Jr., also signed his letter of intent today. McGrone is an aggressive and fun to watch linebacker that Don Brown will surely love to have on his defense.

Michigan’s offensive backfield will also get some reinforcements as they picked up two more running backs in this class.  A pair of three-star backs, Christian Turner and Hassan Haskins from Georgia and Missouri respectively, both signed their NLI’s today.

One of Michigan’s seven four-stars to sign today was legacy-commit, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, son of former Michigan D-end Chris Hutchinson. Aidan is a four-star out of Dearborn Heights Divine Child. Three-star defensive end Taylor Upshaw from Braden River, Florida also signed today. 

Jalen Mayfield and Ryan Hayes look to continue the process that “the best players from Michigan go to Michigan” as they are both ranked top five in the state. Jalen Mayfield will look to help a Michigan offensive line that struggled for much of the year. Mayfield is the state of Michigan’s fourth-ranked player from Grand Rapids Catholic Central. Hayes is a tight end from Traverse City Central and is the fifth-ranked player in the state.

The final two players to sign their letters of intent today were Ben VanSumeren and Luke Schoonmaker. VanSumeren is a three-star tight end/fullback that Michigan flipped from the University of Iowa earlier this week. Schoonmaker is also a three-star tight end, who hails from Hamden, Connecticut. They will enter a crowded tight end class that continues to be one of Michigan’s deepest groups.

Only three of Michigan’s commits did not sign their letter of intent today. Big-time linebacker Otis Reese, quarterback Kevin Doyle, and receiver Ronnie Bell are all still committed but unsigned.

Overall it was a successful day for U of M whose 2018 recruiting class currently sits just outside the top ten according to 24/7 sports. Although it may not be Michigan’s most prolific recruiting class, there is a lot of interesting talent here. There is certainly no shortage of size, strength, and length in this class.

We’ll see if Harbaugh can use some of his recruiting magic to pull a few more top recruits before February, but until then this is their class and there is a lot to be excited about.