A view from the north end zone of Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Michigan’s football program had one of its best recruiting months in at least the past decade when it landed nine commitments in June.
The first two days in July haven’t been as kind. Three of the Wolverines’ top targets in the 2025 class committed elsewhere on Monday and Tuesday.
Danville (Calif.) San Ramon Valley four-star linebacker/edge Marco Jones became the latest Tuesday night, choosing Texas A&M over other finalists Michigan, Texas and USC.
The No. 167 overall prospect nationally, per the 247Sports Composite rankings, took official visits to all of his top schools, including Michigan the first weekend in June, but decided to head to the Southeastern Conference.
The Wolverines were never the reported favorite to land Jones, but they were for the other two: Brookline (Mass.) Dexter School four-star offensive lineman Hardy Watts and Philadelphia St. Joseph Prep School four-star defensive lineman Maxwell Roy.
Last month, recruiting experts had submitted predictions for Michigan to get both Watts and Roy but both chose elsewhere Monday. Watts, the No. 222 prospect in the country, verbally pledged to Wisconsin, while Roy, who is ranked 229th, picked Ohio State to add to its top-ranked class.
The Wolverines and Buckeyes have gone head-to-head for multiple prospects the past few cycles, but OSU prevailed for Roy despite Michigan getting the last official visit on June 21.
“For me, it was the people and how they interact with each other in the building,” Roy told Letterman Row about why he chose OSU. “They always talk about brotherhood, family, and how connected they are. For me, seeing it on my official visit, how the players and coaches interact, how the players interact with each other, it was special. It was what I was most looking for in a college and to see that on my visit was special.”
The trio would have bolstered a 2025 Michigan recruiting class that currently ranks 18th in the country with 10 of the 13 commits rated as four-star prospects.
Fortunately, the Wolverines are off to a strong start up front on the defensive side of the ball this cycle. They landed Alpharetta (Ga.) four-star edge Julius Holly on Saturday and have three other four-star defensive linemen already committed.
Losing out on Watts could sting, though. Michigan has two offensive linemen committed in four-star Avery Gach and three-star Kaden Strayhorn but could use three of four this cycle. It’s still early, but the Wolverines have no clear replacement for Watts and will likely have to look elsewhere to fill the position.
Michigan built a ton of momentum the recruiting trail in June to climb more than 20 spots in the national rankings and is 11th in the country based on the average rating of the committed prospects.
Missing on three prospects to begin July is a setback but there’s still plenty of time to regroup ahead of signing day in December.
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