SI All-American: Michigan Wide Receiver Haul Among Best In Nation

With the SI99 rankings and SI All-American candidate lists public, SIAA digs into Power 5 programs putting together the top wide receiver corps in the class of 2021.

Michigan has commitments in place from four wide receivers and each of them brings something different to the table. Markus Allen is a big bodied, jump ball catcher and an absolute handful to bring down after the catch. Andrel Anthony is a solid route runner and a contortionist. He make the tough catch look easy. Cristian Dixon has good, not great size, but really looks the part. He's the technician of the group. He's not a burner but he will get open and he'll catch everything. Xavier Worthy is a burner. He boasts 10.65 speed in the 100-meter dash and can absolutely jump out of the gym. He's the slightest of the group but he's also the most dynamic. They're all coveted guys planning to wear the winged helmet. Because of that, they're being mentioned as one of the best hauls in the country by SI All-American.

Only three programs have a pair of receivers in the SI99 already committed — Alabama, Michigan and Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide's fourth pledge was on the edge of being in the SI99 so they take the top spot, but U-M is right there.

Each one of the future Wolverines is over 6-feet tall while profiling as versatile pieces, especially in the case of SI99 members Xavier Worthy and Christian Dixon. It's not hard to project either as an 'X' or on the inside working at No. 2 or No. 3 in spread personnel sets when it comes to elusiveness in Worthy's case and polish in Dixon's. Worthy is the group's headliner at this point with his improved polish and head-turning ability to get vertical thanks to his top-end speed. In-stater Andrel Anthony is a possession prospect with great ball skills and ability to make contested catches. Markus Allen, who had a huge senior year debut in scoring three touchdowns last week, aligns with Dixon as high floor prospects with enough size, polish and raw play-making ability to bet on at the next level. 

Michigan could very well be done at wide receiver and everyone interested would be just fine with that. The foursome checks a lot of boxes both on the field and off. It's always good to have a couple Cali kids like Dixon and Worthy in the mix and it's important to keep local products home like in-stater Anthony and Ohio native Allen.

The only other recruit who seems to getting some attention still is Atlanta Pace Academy wide receiver Jayden Thomas. The 6-1, 205-pounder is also a standout on the baseball field and has gotten attention from Michigan for both sports. Thomas posted this graphic from Michigan on his Twitter page in mid-July.

Is this the 〽️ove?😏 #GoBlue @Coach_Gattis pic.twitter.com/eqmstfp2eZ

— JT (@jgpt333) July 13, 2020

He also received an official offer from U-M on August 1, despite all four current commits being committed by then. Beyond him, Michigan seems content with its wide receiver recruiting. 

Wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis has stacked up some really nice talent over the last couple of cycles and should have a lot of weapons to roll out over the next few years.