Michigan Football Recruiting: Power Ranking the Last 5 Recruiting Seasons

Contrary to what many people believe, Rich Rodriguez did bring in a lot of talent in his recruiting classes at Michigan.

I'll take a look at Michigan's last five recruiting classes, dating back to the 2008 class, which was a mixture of Rodriguez's and Lloyd Carr's players.

The classes are graded by the talent that was brought in, and not on how the players eventually panned out.

All the statistical grades and numbers are according to Rivals.com

5. The 2010 Class

Simply put, this was not a very good class.

Rich Rodriguez realized that he needed to focus on defense in this class, but it lacked top-end talent.

Cullen Christian was the top prospect brought in, but he transferred after one season. Demar Dorsey didn't even make it that far, as he never even qualified.

Devin Gardner was obviously a nice get, as more playing time seems inevitable for him in 2012.

Richard Ash, Marvin Robinson and Ken Wilkins were all 4-star defensive guys that have yet to contribute. Robinson and Ash especially will be counted on to produce in 2012.

Jibreel Black was a nice get as a 3-star that will likely play a huge role in 2012. Josh Furman is another 3-star that seems to have a bright future.

However, the most pleasant 3-star surprise has been Jake Ryan. This kid was only a redshirt freshman in 2011, but was already starting and constantly making big plays.

So many players in this class have already left or never even made it to Michigan: the aforementioned Christian and Dorsey, Carvin Johnson, Christian Pace, Davion Rogers, Terry Talbott, Austin White, Cornelius Jones, Antonio Kinard, D.J. Williamson and Ray Vinopal.

That list right there is just way too long, as we could see from early on that this was not a very good group.

4. The 2011 Class

After the 2010 class was such a disappointment, fans were hoping for much better results in 2011.

However, it was going to be hard to put anything solid together with Rich Rodriguez's firing and Brady Hoke being hired near the end of the recruiting process.

A handful of solid 4-stars were brought in, and all of them look like they could be contributors except one: Chris Barnett, who has already left the program.

The majority of the 3-stars that were brought in look to have bright futures. Delonte Hollowell, Frank Clark, Thomas Rawls, Desmond Morgan and Matt Wile all saw playing time in 2011 as true freshmen.

A few guys who redshirted last season, such as Jack Miller, Chris Rock, Chris Bryant and Justice Hayes, figure to either be contributors in 2012 or at least have a good shot at seeing playing time.

Barnett isn't the only guy from this class that isn't at Michigan anymore. Kellen Jones, Greg Brown and Tony Posada are all no longer with the Michigan program.

It's too bad these four guys never made it, but at least the number is much smaller than it was in the 2010 class.

Overall, this isn't a great group, but it's definitely better than the 2010 class. Hoke did a nice job of keeping the class together and even pulling in a few more guys during the short time that he had.

3. The 2008 Class

Most of these were Lloyd Carr's guys, with a few at the end being pulled in by Rich Rodriguez.

As a whole, this was a very good class, even though there wasn't a 5-star in it. There were 17 4-stars in it, though, which is an insanely high number.

Too many of the big-name players from this class ended up being busts. Boubacar Cissoko, Dann O'Neill, Brandon Smith, Marcus Witherspoon, Taylor Hill, J.B. Fitzgerald, Michael Shaw, Sam McGuffie and Terrence Robinson were all 4-stars that never lived up to the hype.

To have that many 4-star players end up basically being busts is simply way too high.

However, there were two 3-stars in this class that ended up being huge contributors. Both Martavious Odoms and J.T. Floyd are having/had very good careers, with Odoms graduating after 2011 and Floyd being a fifth-year senior in 2012.

There was even a 2-star that has made a huge impact: Patrick Omameh. Omameh will also be a fifth-year senior in 2012, as it's not too often that we see 2-star players have an impact at a big university.

Even though this class lacked a 5-star player, it was still a very solid class. Rodriguez actually did a great job of keeping it together once Carr retired.

2. The 2009 Class

This was, by far, Rich Rodriguez's best class at Michigan, and a Top-10 class nationally.

It was loaded with talent from top to bottom, and included some top-end talent that the 2008 class lacked.

There was one 5-star, Will Campbell, in the class, but another player, J.T. Turner, came darn close to reaching 5-star status.

Turner ended up being a bust and has left the program, but at the time it was a huge get for a depleted secondary.

Plenty of 4-star offensive talent was brought in, including guys like Tate Forcier, Jeremy Gallon, Je'Ron Stokes, Taylor Lewan, Denard Robinson and Fitzgerald Toussaint.

Michigan struck gold on some of the 3-stars as well, as Brandin Hawthorne, Vincent Smith and Thomas Gordon were all major contributors last season.

Heck, Brendan Gibbons was only a 2-star, but looked absolutely great last season.

This was overall a terrific class that brought in tons of talent.

1. The 2012 Class

Fans probably think that this is a no-brainer for the best class of the last five years, but I was very tempted to put the 2009 group as No. 1.

The 2012 class couldn't have started any hotter, but really had a disappointing finish.

The two 5-stars brought in were the most since 2007, but finishing with only 10 4-stars was somewhat disappointing.

Plus, a lack of top-end talent at the skill positions was a little concerning; Dennis Norfleet and Amara Darboh were the only two 4-star skill position players that were brought in.

However, both the offensive line group and the linebacking group were absolutely incredible.

This was obviously a solid class that will lay the foundation for Michigan football for years to come.