5 Things to Watch for National Signing Day

Michael Onwenu (image via 247Sports.com)

National Signing Day is taking place tomorrow today (here’s a list of announcement times/choices), and there has already been plenty of drama leading up to the event. Michigan has suffered numerous decommitments throughout the process, and there’s a good chance that when tomorrow is done, the Wolverines will have had 40+ different players committed at one time or another during the 2016 class. It has been a roller coaster ride over the last year, and I don’t know of a more tumultuous recruiting cycle in Michigan history.

Hit the jump for the rest of the post.

1. Where will Michael Onwenu sign?
   This is a bit of a cheat, because he’s announcing his decision at 8:00 p.m. this evening. Onwenu – an Army All-American offensive guard – committed to Michigan last spring and has remained committed throughout the process. He picked up a late offer from Michigan State and took an official visit to East Lansing two weekends ago. He recently removed pro-Michigan text from his Twitter profile and set an “announcement” that seemingly didn’t need to be announced. Michigan insiders are still confident that he’ll end up signing with Michigan, and they say he’s just having fun with the process. Fans, on the other hand, are feeling some consternation.
2. Did Clemson do enough to steal away Rashan Gary?
   Rashan Gary is the consensus #1 player in the country, and Michigan has been in the lead for a long time. It wasn’t clear where Gary would take his final official visit in January, whether it would be to Alabama or Clemson. That seemed like a good sign, because if one team is the favorite and other teams are just battling to even get a visit, then that appears like a clear pecking order. But now the buzz for Clemson has increased, with some insiders even saying it’s 50/50 whether he picks the Wolverines or the Tigers.
3. What commitments will surprise us?
   I have already put in my predictions for the 2016 class (LINK), so maybe we won’t be surprised. It seems like Michigan – and probably a lot of teams – pull a rabbit out of their hat on National Signing Day. Last year we were pleasantly surprised when Shelton Johnson picked Michigan over Florida State; and we were disappointed when Roquan Smith didn’t commit and when Mike Weber picked Ohio State. This year there are several players who could surprise Michigan, to varying degrees: Devin Asiasi, Chris Brown, Keyshon Camp, Chris Daniels,  Jordan Elliott, Dontavious Jackson, Jonathan Jones, Jacob Mathis, E.J. Price, Isaiah Simmons, Boss Tagaloa, Victor Viramontes, and Keyshawn Young.
4. Will Michigan make any last-minute offers to fill out the class?
   One such offer went out yesterday when the Wolverines extended a tender to Alaric Jackson. The Detroit native looked bound for Iowa before the offer came, and he postponed his commitment from Monday to National Signing Day. Since a lot of last-minute offers are to local kids, I put out a primer for offense (LINK) and defense (LINK) over the last several weeks to give you an idea of who might be offer-worthy. Michigan whiffed on Jordan Fuller, who picked Ohio State on Monday, so maybe they’ll turn up the heat on someone else to take a defensive back spot.
5. How about that Signing of the Stars?
   Michigan has done something unprecedented (as far as I know) and created a signing day party. The party is going to include appearances from Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, Ric Flair, Desmond Howard, Mike Shanahan, Denard Robinson, Jon Jansen, Jim Leyland, Lou Holtz, and several more. I have no idea what the event will look like and how they will be incorporated into the signings of the players, but it is certainly creating a spectacle and a buzz around Michigan football. I don’t know if this type of thing can be replicated year after year, but for now, this seems like a big deal.

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