Michigan Football Recruiting 2022: Top Remaining Recruits, Class Predictions

The Michigan football team is coming off its best season since 1997 after winning the Big Ten title outright and making the College Football Playoff for the first time.

The Wolverines' season ended in the semifinals, losing to eventual national champion Georgia. But the school finished with a 12-2 record and a No. 3 Associated Press poll ranking.

The question now is whether Michigan can parlay its excellent 2021 season into further Big Ten dominance and national prominence, but a massive question mark exists.

Specifically, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is interviewing for the Minnesota Vikings' job Wednesday. He is one of four finalists.

Naturally, if he goes, then there's a big question mark looming over the program heading into next year and beyond. It also could factor into decisions for players considering Michigan.

However, what's certain is that Michigan has a stacked class of 2022. Heading into national signing day, 247Sports ranks the Wolverines eighth in the country.

Twenty-two players have signed letters of intent and should be at Michigan for at least next season. One, 3-star edge-rusher Kevonte Henry, is a hard commit.

Michigan is also on the shortlist for some notable recruits, including the highest-ranked uncommitted player in 247Sports' class of 2022, 5-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr.

The 6'5", 283-pound lineman out of Rainier Beach, Washington, who is No. 8 overall, has a final six of Washington, Miami, Michigan, USC, Oregon and Oklahoma.

Conerly said he will not be announcing his decision or signing anywhere until March, so don't expect him to make an NSD splash.

The 247Sports crystal ball projections have two experts predicting that Conerly stays home to play for Washington, while the other two have him going to Michigan.

Conerly will be more than welcome wherever he goes. Gabe Brooks of 247Sports compared him to Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wrote that he's "built like a jumbo edge defender with the field demeanor of a tone-setting offensive lineman."

As far as picking his next destination, the guess here is that it's not Michigan, especially with Harbaugh's future undecided and five other teams on Conerly's list, including one from his home state. And while Washington would appear to have a preeminence, an announcement is still one month out.

As for Henry, the expectation is that he will not be taking his talents to Ann Arbor. He did not sign with the Wolverines during the early signing period, and 247Sports credits him with making three visits since then to Washington (Dec. 10), Oklahoma (Jan. 14) and Arizona (Jan. 28).

Keegan Pope of On3 provided more information.

"He visited the Sooners two weeks ago, and they have been trending as his likely landing spot. He scheduled a trip last month to see the Gators right before signing day; however, they’re now out of what appears to be a two-team race."

"According to On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons, the fact that Arizona will get Kevonte Henry’s final official visit, as well as his connections to a number of the Wildcats’ West Coast signees, makes this a very tight race with just days until signing day."

All signs point to Henry playing elsewhere in 2022.

The name to watch on national signing day, then, is Andrew Paul.

The 3-star running back out of Dallas' Parish Episcopal School has named his final three as Georgia, Michigan and Clemson, and he plans to make his announcement at 12:20 p.m. ET Wednesday.

Paul visited to all three schools in January, per 247Sports.

Four of five 247Sports predictions have Paul going to Georgia, while the lone dissenter chooses Clemson.

Georgia is an enticing place for a running back to go.

For starters, the Bulldogs have sent running backs Nick Chubb, D'Andre Swift, Sony Michel and Todd Gurley to the NFL since 2015.

Second, James Cook and Zamir White are headed to the NFL, leaving some room on the depth chart for more playing opportunities.

Plus, it helps that Georgia is the reigning national champion.

The guess here is that Paul ends up picking Georgia, letting the rich get richer.

In sum, expect national signing day to be a quiet one for the Wolverines, but they still have a fantastic class headed to Ann Arbor.