National Signing Day 2011: Michigan's Recruiting Class State of the Union

The recruiting news has been coming fast and furious the last few days and this class is starting to fill up. I thought this would be a good day to take a quick inventory of where we are at with this class, and who might still be left on the board.

The 2011 Class Verbal Commits:

Offense:

QB: Russell Bellomy

RB: Justice Hayes

WR: None

OL: Tony Posada, Jack Miller

TE: None

K: Matt Wile

Defense: 

DB: Greg Brown, Tamani Carter, Blake Countess, Delonte Hollowell and Raymon Taylor.

DE: Brennen Beyer, Keith Heitzman,  Chris Rock

DT: None

LB: Kellen Jones, Desmond Morgan, Antonio Poole

Michigan's class is now 16 players strong, with maybe four to six spots still open.  Sometimes it doesn't always make sense to use all your spots, so that you can have a scholarship for a walk-on or transfer, or bank it for next year.  

It's clear that Michigan has holes in this class at defensive tackle, and could use a couple more offensive linemen. Keith Heitzman could play TE or DE. I am hearing they want him at DE right now.

Who is left on Michigan's board?

Guys Michigan has a good shot at:

• Frank Clark, TE
• Thomas Rawls, RB
• Chris Bryant, OL
• Jake Fisher, OL (former commit)
• Leilon Willingham, LB

Guys Michigan is in on and has a fighting chance:       

• Darin Cooper, DT: Michigan was at his school and at home with him yesterday. They're trying to get him to visit this weekend. They need him in this class, but Michigan has some ground to make up in a hurry.      
• Trayion Durham, FB: He's a former Wisconsin commit and is visiting this weekend. He is rated as a top-five FB in the country to every major service.     
• Floyd Raven, CB: He might be visiting this weekend. There have been stories about him committing to Texas A&M on Monday and now Ole Miss on Tuesday. I guess we will see if he visits this weekend. I wouldn't hold my breath on this one. 
•  Ryan Nowicki (a PSU soft commit), OL: He is visiting this weekend.   
• Chris Barnett, TE: He is also visiting this weekend. 

Any Surprises?

With only a week left before signing day, maybe, but I think the final commits will come from the top list. 

I wish Kris Frost would re-consider his Auburn commitment. I know he loves Michigan, Auburn was a little delayed in taking his commitment, and he could be coached by Ray Lewis's coach Greg Mattison at Michigan.  

We also don't have a WR in this class, and he wants to try to play there in college. I know this probably won't happen, but damn, I wish it would! 

How do you want to see the class finish?

Out of the five guys Michigan has a good shot at, I really want Jake Fisher to come back and Chris Bryant to become Blue. Both are strong four-star offensive linemen. I think the other three are silent commits.

Clearly, a DT is a major need, and Darin Cooper has to be near the top of Michigan's list right now. 

The Michigan coaches only had two weeks to recruit and have done an outstanding job in putting this class together. The only thing I would have done differently is keep the recruitment of Devin Lucien alive, a four-star WR from California that was very high on the Wolverines.