Michigan Stockpiling Talent On O-Line In 2021 Class

Michigan has a top 10 recruiting class in the country for 2021 and much of that talent is on offense for the Wolverines.

For the duration of the 2021 football recruiting cycle, Ohio State has paced the country in assembling the top group of commits, but Michigan has not fallen too far behind the Buckeyes in that respect. At the moment, Ohio State sits at No. 1 on Rivals.com with 18 commits, while the Wolverines check in a little bit further down at No. 7 with 21 verbal pledges so far.

Given that disparity, it is reasonable that both Big Ten foes could wind up with top 5 programs nationally. In order to break down how Michigan has fared on the recruiting trail so far, I joined Adam Prescott from Buckeyes Now to discuss U-M's 2021 class.

One of the bigger whiffs from Michigan's perspective this cycle was when Clarkston (Mich.) High four-star offensive guard Rocco Spindler chose Notre Dame a couple weeks back. Spindler was a player high on Michigan's board, so that loss hurts, though he left the conference which could be considered a silver lining.

But without Spindler on board, Michigan still has set itself up for a strong finish this year, especially up front. The Wolverines have four offensive line commits already, and U-M has put a lot of work in convincing Dedham (Mass.) Nobles and Greenough offensive guard Drew Kendall to join that group. Kendall already has one familiar face in teammate Casey Phinney set to join Michigan next year, but the Wolverines have been quite effective recruiting in the state of Massachusetts as a whole with Mansfield (Mass.) High defensive end T.J. Guy and Needham (Mass.) St. Sebastian's tight end Louis Hansen committed too.

For a while now, Kendall has mentioned making a decision in the near future, and earlier this offseason he told Wolverine Digest that he was looking to commit to a school before his senior season starts. The clock is ticking on that timeline, but Michigan is still in good position as the four-star lineman is really taking the academic portion of his decision seriously.

Elsewhere on offense, the crowning jewel of Michigan's '21 class is unarguably J.J. McCarthy. As a five-star quarterback from IMG Academy, McCarthy has all the tools and mental makeup required to be the best quarterback at Michigan in a long time. In fact, McCarthy could be the top U-M passer in the entire Jim Harbaugh era, and you could even throw Brady Hoke's quarterbacks into that mix as well. That's how good J.J. McCarthy is.

While those expectations are high, McCarthy has even higher standards that he holds himself to. And this fall, McCarthy, along with fellow Michigan commit and teammate Greg Crippen, are set to begin the 2020 season Duncanville (Texas) High for Week 1. Throughout the year, both McCarthy and Crippen will be tested on a weekly basis since IMG plays some of the toughest competition in the nation, but that is not much of a switch from their practices, which are also filled with high level athletes at each position.

How do you think of Michigan's recruiting efforts overall for the 2021 class? What do you think the Wolverines need to work on the most going forward? Let us know!