Five final Michigan recruiting takeaways from Future 50: Brady Hart a five-star talent, more
Five Michigan recruiting takeaways from Under Armour’s Future 50 event…
1. Hart outshines previous QB targets
There was debate on the board about Brady Hart vs. Brady Smiegel, and, to a much lesser extent, Brady Hart vs. Noah Grubbs and Brady Hart vs. Will Griffin. There never should have been debates. Hart is clearly the better quarterback of the bunch at this point in the process. Hart showed that at Future 50, winning MVP on Day 2 and keeping pace with five-star signal-caller Faizon Brandon. Smiegel, while accurate and efficient, lacks arm talent and is more than a year older than Hart. Grubbs, outside of winning the accuracy challenge, was extremely inconsistent, and the same goes for Griffin. Hart offers the unique blend of a high floor and a high ceiling and will be in the five-star discussion when it’s all said and done. Michigan made the right call by prioritizing Hart and earning his commitment.
2. Momentum with Hiter
Top 100 Woodberry (Va.) Forest School running back Savion Hiter told me that he’s planning to be back at the BBQ at The Big House, which is obviously a very positive development. Hiter already made his first visit to Michigan in the spring and has a strong bond with new running backs coach Tony Alford, who recruited Hiter hard at Ohio State. Michigan checks a lot of boxes for Hiter, including relationships, high level academics and a run-first offense. Right now, Michigan and Georgia seem to be the schools at the top of mind, with others like Clemson and Miami squarely in the mix as well. Michigan is in the mix for a handful of other elite 2026 ball carriers, but Hiter seems like the most realistic grand prize.
3. Virginia WRs
As mentioned previously, the state of Virginia is absolutely loaded in the 2026 recruiting class, especially at wide receiver with a trio of prospects in the Industry Top 150 — Richmond (Va.) Trinity Episcopal’s Davion Brown, Woodberry Forest (Va.) School’s Dyzier Carter and Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith’s Travis Johnson. All three played on the same 5v5 team as the aforementioned Hart and had an opportunity to build chemistry with the Michigan pledge. Johnson seemed to be Hart’s favorite target of the three. A big-bodied wide out, Johnson will join Hart at the BBQ at The Big House this month. Brown has a thick build at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds and is a physical presence on the outside, while Carter, a teammate of Hiter, is an explosive slot. Both want to visit U-M soon.
4. Back in mix with Fort
Michigan had lost contact with Top 100 Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy safety Zech Fort when I visited his school in the spring. Remember, Fort has already visited Michigan three times and has family in the Detroit-metro. Hopefully, the expanded recruiting department prevents things like this from happening in the future as new secondary coach LaMar Morgan was focused on the 2025s — that’s another topic for another day. But I can say that Morgan was in contact with Fort this month and re-offered. Michigan seems to have lost some steam here, but Fort told me that he is looking forward to building a relationship with Morgan and is already being recruited by teammates Donovan Johnson and Kaden Strayhorn — both committed to U-M last month.
5. Caldwell is intriguing
One of the more fascinating prospects at the event was Top 100 Jacksonville (Fla.) The Bolles School athlete Simeon Caldwell, who visited Michigan last month. Former Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter loved positionless athletes, and Caldwell is exactly the type of prospect that would have moved the needle for him. Caldwell worked out for Michigan at both safety and linebacker and also did a little bit of both at Future 50. While he is a tweener at about 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, Caldwell is very comfortable in coverage and moves well in space. He can be Keon Sabb-like as a safety or add weight and spin down.
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