Trieu: Scheme fit will determine Michigan offensive line target Drew Kendall's decision
Michigan battled for Rocco Spindler, but the Clarkston guard chose Notre Dame.
With that, the Wolverines still stand at four offensive line commits, two tackles in Giovanni El-Hadi (Sterling Heights Stevenson) and Tristan Bounds, and two interior prospects in Raheem Anderson (Detroit Cass Tech) and Greg Crippen.
All eyes are now on Drew Kendall of Dedham (Mass.) Noble and Greenough School. Kendall is the son of former first-round draft choice and 13-year NFL offensive lineman Pete Kendall. Boston College, his father’s alma mater, is one of Michigan’s biggest competitors.
“I think Michigan was approaching both Spindler and Kendall with willingness to take both,” The Michigan Insider’s Sam Webb said. “I didn’t believe that was a likely outcome because there were already two interior offensive linemen in the class and how focused Kendall is on the depth chart. With Spindler off the board, that clears the deck for Kendall.”
Kendall is an excellent student who has drawn offers from Stanford, Duke and more. The Cardinal and Blue Devils join Boston College and Michigan as the four schools most analysts believe are in the running.
On the field, he is a 6-foot-4, 255-pound prospect who plays with physicality and intensity.
“Michigan has led, but he wanted to know how well he would fit into the offense,” Webb said. “Looking at Michigan’s past guards, Ben Bredeson and Mike Onwenu, Big Mike was maybe 100 pounds heavier. Michigan’s approach has been that those guys recruited to play in a different offense. They’re more focused now on athleticism more than sheer size. He can be 295-300 pounds and be successful there.”
“I think I am a better outside zone-type of guard where I can reach that 3-technique or 2-i, get the guy moving sideways,” Kendall said. “I have great relationships with the coaches, they are all great academic schools, so I think it is going to come to scheme fit and where I see myself.”
Kendall had talked about making a summer decision, but no actual date has been set yet.
Michigan also has other offensive linemen they continue to recruit.
“They are still recruiting (247Sports Composite five-star) Nolan Rucci, but I think they are on the outside looking in there,” Webb said. “Noah Josey from Brentwood Academy in Tennessee is a guy sneaking back onto the radar. He visited for the BBQ (at the Big House) and for the Iowa game and it has picked up a little bit there of late.”
At present, 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions favor Georgia for Josey.
Michigan signed six offensive linemen in the 2019 class and three in the 2020 class.
New offer in Maryland
Baltimore (Md.) Calvert Hall class of 2022 defensive end Daniel Owens was offered by Michigan on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Owens has offers from Penn State, Rutgers, Michigan State, Maryland, Pittsburgh and more.
Owens carries a 3.4 grade-point average in the classroom and is looking to go into engineering.
More information
Allen Trieu covers Midwest football recruiting for 247Sports. He has been featured on the Big Ten Network on its annual Signing Day Show. His Michigan and Michigan State recruiting columns appear weekly at detroitnews.com.