Wolverine Digest

Michigan football signee gets major disrespect from a recruiting service

Trent Knoop|
Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Rivals released its final 2025 top-250 players on Wednesday and the rankings generated some buzz -- in a negative way. The Wolverines had several players ranked in the top 250, most notably five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood, who somehow, dropped to No. 3 overall in the rankings. He is behind Ohio State signee Tavien St. Clair and Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell.

Michigan had nine players ranked in the top 250, but there was one name that was shockingly missing. Cornerback Shamari Earls, a borderline five-star prospect on 247Sports, is not ranked in Rivals' top 250.

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The Chester (VA) Thomas Dale recruit is a four-star on the Composite and the No. 96 overall recruit -- despite not being in the 250 over on Rivals. One would seem to believe the recruiting service somehow forgot about Earls being in the '25 cycle. The Michigan signee has been viewed as a most-get prospect and several big-time teams have been after Earls. The one-time South Carolina commit is being talked about as someone who could come into Ann Arbor in Year 1 and make an impact. Plenty of analysts have compared Earls to Michigan great Will Johnson. The coaches hope Earls can have a Johnson-type trajectory, where he comes in and plays sparingly at first before earning more and more time on the football field.

Social media wasn't too happy about Rivals' evaluation of Earls.

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Trent Knoop
TRENT KNOOP

Trent began writing and covering Michigan athletics back in 2020. He became a credentialed member of the media in 2021. Trent began writing with Sports Illustrated in 2023 and became the Managing Editor for Michigan Wolverines On SI during the 2025 football season. Trent also serves as the Publisher of Baylor Bears on SI. His other bylines have appeared on Maryland on SI, Wisconsin on SI, and across the USA TODAY Sports network. Trent’s love of sports and being able to tell stories to fans is what made him get into writing.

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