Recruiting Board Updated

Update 2/26: Added NJ S Brandon Smith, TN WR Rodriguez Wilks, IL OL Graham Pocic, CA OL Vaugn Dotsy, and FL LB Nigel Bradham. Linked to Mike Zordich interview. Fixed "illcit" typo that had been there for two years. Added VA LB Marcus Dowtin, GA DT Omar Hunter, and MI CB Troy Tidwell, MN WR Michael Floyd, OH WR Nate Wilburn-Ogletree. Linked to Jon Major interview. Added KY DE Dexter Heyman, KY DT Brandon Newman, CT DT Massengo Kabongo.

Downgraded NC S Robert Blanton from green to yellow.

Editorial Opinion: Ah, the days when recruiting is a constantly expanding set of possibilities. A ton of guys go on the board and none come off. Three Southern defensive linemen are of particular note:

GA DT Omar Hunter is likely to be one of the top three prospects in the state. He's been inspiring paeans since his sophomore year. He's had high-profile SEC offers for six months. The kicker:

Omar Hunter: Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Maryland, South Carolina, Duke and Ole Miss have offered. Attended UF Junior Day. He is from NJ and favors Michigan. If offered he said he would likely commit. Auburn is likely second.

No doubt the Michigan coaches are scrambling for tape as we speak. [A note on that site: it's a blog (dodgy), but one of a few Florida ones officially hosted at their Scout site (less dodgy). Given the explosion of Hunter chatter on Michigan message boards, the bolded assertion is not taken from the ether.]

KY DT Brandon Newman and KY DE Dexter Heyman both enter the board with nice green smileys. Both are saying nice things about Michigan at the moment, albeit things of the sort that are clearly less argh-offer-now than Hunter's seeming eagerness to drop. Heyman's quote: "if I had a leader, it would be Michigan." So there you go. Heyman's a top-100-ish defensive end and should be getting an offer at some point. Newman is probably a 3.5 star type who may not get an offer right away if Michigan feels good about Hunter and a couple other guys. With a small class and a lot of young DTs Michigan will probably go light at the position this year.

The rest of the new guys are just names at this point. Dotsy, probably one of the best guard prospects in the 2008 class, goes to St. Bonaventure with Michael Williams and 2008's #1 RB, Darrell Scott.

Board here.