Michigan Football Recruiting: Remaining Needs at Each Position for Class of 2013

The Michigan Wolverines have more verbal commitments up to this point than any other college football team in the country. With 16 pledges so far, Michigan more than triples the next highest Big Ten team in Ohio St. with just five players committed to their program. 

While there's no concrete number as to the maximum number of players Brady Hoke can sign in for the Class of 2013, it's easy to assume that there's not many scholarships left for this class. 

Michigan has its next star in the making with quarterback Shane Morris. The Wolverines have also signed five offensive linemen: OG Kyle Bosch, OT Chris Fox, OT Logan Tuley-Tillman, OG Patrick Kugler and OG David Dawson.

Michigan also has two running backs committed in FB Wyatt Shallman and RB DeVeon Smith to go along with their two tight ends Khalid Hill and Jake Butt. 

So now that the Wolverines have many of their positional needs filled, this article will examine the remaining spots that are required to retain their depth at key positions. 

Wide Receiver

The man pictured in the photograph above is none other than Anthony "Snake" Carter who played for Michigan from 1979 to 1982. He's one of the greatest wide receivers in the history of Wolverines football with 161 receptions, 3,076 receiving yards and 40 touchdowns.

Anthony Carter signifies the importance for Brady Hoke to get a few key 4-star or 5-star receivers for his future quarterback, Shane Morris. Morris will only be as effective as his receiving corps. 

When Denard Robinson leaves for the NFL, Al Borges will install more of his West Coast offense at Michigan, meaning high quality wide receivers will be of utmost importance. 

Devin Gardner, Russell Bellomy and Shane Morris will fight for the starting job in 2013. We do know for certain that Michigan will pass the football more, translating to a need for good hands and more speed at wide receiver.

Michigan has only one verbal commitment at wide receiver in Jaron Dukes. Rated 3-stars by Scout, Dukes is a tall receiver at 6'4" and weighs 200 pounds. 

The Wolverines do have their eyes on some highly-rated wide receivers such as 5-star Kentucky native James Quick and 4-star Californian Darrell Daniels.

By the time recruiting is over, expect the Wolverines to sign between two and three high-end receivers.

Defensive Tackle

Brady Hoke said in a recent press conference that he needs to continue to build depth on the offensive and defensive lines. 

The Wolverines lost both defensive tackles Mike Martin and Will Heininger to graduation.

With Michigan already securing five offensive linemen, Hoke will probably enlist one more player and that's about it. 

So far, Michigan hasn't signed up any defensive tackles. They did well last season by signing 5-star recruit Ondre Pipkins, pictured above. 

Some of the higher-end defensive tackles they've offered scholarships to is Eddie Vanderdoes from California and Justin Manning from Texas. They're both 5-star recruits on Scout.

Expect the Wolverines to sign two or three defensive tackles by signing day.  

Defensive End

Michigan is really going to miss Ryan Van Bergen since he graduated in the 2011 class. Craig Roh is moving to Van Bergen's old spot and somebody will need to step into Roh's old position.

For the 2013 class, more depth is needed on the defensive end position as well. The only recruit Michigan has signed so far is Rivals' 4-star and Scout's 3-star recruit, Taco Charlton.

Some of the better players the Wolverines have on their radar is Kentucky's Jason Hatcher and Indiana's Elijah Daniel. Both players are rated 4 stars on Scout. 

Michigan will want to build depth and add between two and three more defensive ends in this class before signing day. 

Final Thoughts

Michigan's 16 commitments for the class of 2013 are nothing short of amazing. Understand, we're still in the middle of March! Michigan's first commitment for the class of 2012, OT Ben Braden, didn't give his verbal until March 24th of last year. 

The Wolverines need to understand they have a limited amount of scholarships left and must be willing to be extremely selective with their remaining recruits. 

They've done a great job so far in building the amount of depth on the offensive line but will need to chose defensive tackles and defensive ends primarily to ease those same concerns on the defensive line.

It's important moving forward to get wide receivers who are going to acclimate to the West Coast offense properly. This means tall runners who can block on the line of scrimmage. 

I'm sure the star of the 2013 class, Shane Morris, is more than eager to get the best receivers in the nation to come to Michigan. Let's see if the Wolverines can pull them in.