Recruiting Board Updated

Update 4/30: Added VA WR Deion Walker, KY OL Ryan Benzick, IL OL Garrett Goebel, AZ OL Zach Schlinck, WV OL Josh Jenkins, OR DE Ethan Johnson (offered). Linked to articles on OH OL commit Elliot Mealer, GA DT Omar Hunter. Removed IL RB Jason Ford (M lack of interest). Linked to brief mention of possible M lead for IL LB Stephen Filer.

Am specifically leaving two guys off the board despite some announced interest: TX WR Sedrick Johnson claims a verbal offer from Michigan and has them in his top five, which he claims is in no order before talking all about how Texas A&M is highly likely to get him. CA RB Milton Knox says Michigan is in his top five; we haven't offered. If these guys appear to be serious targets later I'll add them.

Possible Programming Note: I throw these up whenever it seems there's enough links to make a post of interest, which seems to be about once a week. So why not make it a weekly feature? Henceforth I'll try to do these every Monday. I've been bad about hewing to schedules in the offseason, though. Will I make it? Perhaps!

Editorial Opinion: Possible M lead for blue-chippah Stephen Filer? w00t? NSFMF. This is the phrase from the Sun-Times article:

Filer, who impresses scouts with his great frame, enormous potential, running ability and good instincts, appears to be leaning to Michigan over Notre Dame, Ohio State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Purdue, Iowa and Minnesota.

Not exactly the strongest endorsement. Now consider that the only person quoted in the article is Creepy Tom Lemming, who never met a recruit he didn't have a baseless-but-profitable opinion on where he'll go, and add two and two to figure out the source of that really weak assertion and you get something that's not likely to be worth the paper a Terry Foster column is printed on. Too bad.

Many lineman names added to the board: OGs out of Arizona and Illinois (Michigan apparently offered Goebel and said "whatever you want"; given the relative depth at DL and OL I put him at OL), a DE out of Oregon, an OT/OG out of WV. None seem like particularly good bets to come to Michigan. Goebel's one of those Catholic school kids and is supposed to be leaning to ND. Arizona is far away, so is Oregon. Josh Jenkins, the WV kid, maintains that he's a soft commit to West Virginia and featured in a picture the Buckeyes are kicking around (one that, frustratingly, I can no longer find) spelling out "Ohio" with their three OL commits. But we offered him so there you go.

Just one other thing: OH TE Kevin Koger picked up a Michigan offer early and it was followed shortly by one from OSU. He's a childhood friend of OL commit Elliot Mealer and even the BP mods are beginning to see this one coming out in Michigan's favor:

I don't see us winning this one...just my humble opinion.

That's not solid, obviously, but those guys are plugged in and it takes some doing to get them to express anything resembling pessimism regarding Michigan after the past few years. I'm this close to breaking out the blue for him, but... no.