Tomorrow is the anticlimactic "late" National Signing Day that we have to suffer through after the "early" signing period that popped up in December a few years ago. It's tough to get too excited about the early signing period since we're still in the midst of thoughts about Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve, bowl games, the College Football Playoff, etc. at that time of year, but there's still some potential for excitement for the 2025 class:
Denton (TX) Ryan offensive tackle Ty Haywood (4-star, #6 OT, #39 overall) will be announcing his commitment at 8:00 a.m. CST (9:00 a.m. EST), so keep an eye on him. It appears to be a Florida State vs. Michigan battle, but Michigan is the betting favorite as of right now. The 6'5", 285-pounder could be a star in the near future and would make two top-40 offensive tackles for Michigan in the class if he joins Andrew Babalola, who signed in December. Haywood has outstanding potential, but my primary concern is that he's usually the last guy off the ball, so he needs to get quicker off the snap.
Cincinnati (OH) St. Xavier quarterback Chase Herbstreit (3-star, #147 QB, #2191 overall) committed to Michigan already, but he committed after the early signing period was over, so he should officially be in the fold on Wednesday. He just took his official visit to Ann Arbor this past weekend, which caused an uproar on the internet since his dad, famous Ohio State alum-turned-broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit, showed up in some social media pictures wearing navy blue and a Michigan lanyard.
Philadelphia (PA) Imhotep defensive end Zahir Mathis (4-star, #12 EDGE, #114 overall) is still uncommitted after decommitting from Ohio State. Michigan was in the mix, but the two parties parted ways before Mathis took an official visit in January, so it looks to be down to Florida State and Maryland for Mathis.
OFF THE BOARD
Columbia (SC) Heathwood Hall Episcopal cornerback Onis Konanbanny (4-star, #34 CB, #361 overall) flipped from Tennessee to Florida. He had been committed to the Volunteers since August 2024.
UPDATE: Ty Haywood committed to Michigan this morning.
ReplyDeleteGO MF BLUE!
DeleteI miss the old days of recruiting when signing day was a big event.
ReplyDeleteI think I might be getting old with my growing list of "miss the old days" takes LOL
Getting Babalola and Haywood to pair with Underwood seems potentially epic. Marsh hopefully is a big piece of the future as well, at WR. Those are some talented cornerstones to build around, if they pan out as hoped.
ReplyDeleteIt it does feel like 2025 might be a bit of a "building block" year and will be interesting to see what kind of playing time choices the staff makes. Specifically in with guys in their final college seasons (like Keene, O'Leary, Bredeson, McCulley, Crippen) vs younger options who might benefit from learning on the job.
It may depend on how the early season goes and if we're tracking closer to a 10 wins or 7.