Prior to Tuesday, the University of Michigan had eight commits for the Class of 2018 in football. They added their ninth, and second from the state of Michigan, as 4-star offensive tackle Jalen Mayfield announced his pledge to the Wolverines.
Mayfield, the Grand Rapids Catholic Central product, is regarded as the No. 6 player in the state of Michigan and a top-25 offensive tackle in the country, per the 247Sports Composite Rankings. He stands 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds. 247Sports alone lists him as the top overall player in Michigan.
Mayfield has taken an interesting recruiting trail over the last few years. He had been heavily honed in on by the Wolverines' in-state rival Michigan State going back to June of 2016, making multiple visits (unofficially) and attending camps. The Spartans, along with the Iowa Hawkeyes, offered him a scholarship in January of this year.
But Mayfield then received an offer from Minnesota and new head coach, former Western Michigan head man P.J. Fleck. Mayfield committed to the Gophers just a week after the offer. However, that was short-lived after Michigan offered him in late March, in which he subsequently then decommitted from Minnesota days later.
After making a second unofficial trip to Ann Arbor in mid-April, Mayfield (again) announced his commitment.
Catholic Central head coach Todd Kolster says Mayfield is both a “special player, and he's also a special person,” calling the 4-year varsity player a “born leader.”
2018 Michigan Class Counter: 9
The addition of Mayfield ups the total number of hard commits for the Michigan Class of 2018 to nine. Mayfield is the second player from the state of Michigan to pledge to the Wolverines, the first since Dearborn Divine Child defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson, who announced his commitment back in late February.
Mayfield is also the second player this month to commit to Michigan. They landed a hard commit from 4-star pro-style quarterback Joe Milton a few weeks back. The Michigan class, which they are dubbing as the “Blue Bloods,” is currently ranked 10th in the country and 4th in the Big Ten.
