Deerfield Beach (FL) Deerfield Beach defensive end Elias Rudolph committed to Michigan on Monday. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Ohio State, Penn State, and others.
Name: Deakon Tonielli Height: 6’5″ Weight: 230 lbs. High school: Oswego (IL) Oswego Position: Tight end Class: Freshman Jersey number: N/A Last year: Tonielli was a senior in high school (LINK). He caught 42 passes for 550 yards and 5 touchdowns. TTB Rating: 76
One of the more forgotten members of the 2023 class, Tonielli ended up as a 247 Composite 4-star, the #20 tight end, and #413 overall. With a decent offer list that included Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota, Tennessee, and West Virginia, he took official visits to Champaign and West Lafayette before visiting Ann Arbor and committing shortly thereafter. Tonielli played some in-line tight end in high school, but he also spent a lot of time split out wide, where he was a mismatch for high school corners. Quicker than most 6’5″, 230-pounders and towering over most of the guys covering him, he seemed to be able to get open pretty consistently for a team that ran the ball a lot.
Strength and blocking will be a couple of the hurdles for Tonielli to overcome in year one. He needs to put on a good chunk of weight before he can get on the field much, and his blocking will need to improve. Usually, that points to a redshirt year as a tight end, and that’s a strong possibility for Tonielli. However, Michigan lost several tight ends to the NFL (Luke Schoonmaker, Joel Honigford), graduation (Carter Selzer) and transfer (Erick All, Louis Hansen) last season and only brought in Indiana’s A.J. Barner from the transfer portal. Zack Marshall enrolled early as a freshman and may have a better shot to play than Tonielli. But Michigan uses a lot of tight ends, so Tonielli may be able to slip on the field a few times while still preserving his redshirt, like Marlin Klein did in 2022 when he played in two games.
Lehi (UT) Skyridge offensive guard Darius Afalava was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’5″, 280 lb. prospect with offers from Arizona, Arizona State, LSU, Oregon, and Washington, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #13 interior offensive lineman, and #274 overall.
Greenwich (CT) Brunswick offensive tackle Matty Augustine was offered by Michigan on a visit swing through the midwest. He’s a 6’7″, 280-pounder with offers from Kentucky, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Penn State, plus others.
Chicago (IL) Simeon defensive end Christopher Burgess, Jr. was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’4″, 230 lb. edge player with offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and more. He’s a 4-star, the #19 edge, and #200 overall. Simeon is the alma mater of Michigan staffer Chris Bryant, who was a 4-star recruit whose career was cut short by injury. Burgess visited Michigan a couple weekends ago.
Name: Amir Herring Height: 6’3″ Weight: 305 lbs. High school: West Bloomfield (MI) West Bloomfield Position: Offensive guard Class: Freshman Jersey number: #56 Last year: Herring was a senior in high school (LINK). He made 85 pancake blocks. TTB Rating: 73
Herring was a long-time Michigan lean who at one point seemed unlikely to end up in Michigan’s class. How is that possible? Well, it seemed at times like Michigan was not pursuing Herring heavily, even though he was offered on July 1, 2020 (today’s the three-year anniversary!). Pegged as a tackle early in his recruitment, his lack of height eventually led to him being ranked as an interior lineman. Word on the street was that Michigan wasn’t really sold on taking him unless he was open to playing center, but once that was ironed out, he became a take.
Herring enrolled early back in January and participated in the spring game, where he started for one squad at right guard. He performed well, and he has a college-ready build at 6’3″ and 305 lbs. Whether he can hold up at guard or will eventually have to slide over to center once a spot opens remains to be seen: Drake Nugent, Greg Crippen, and Raheem Anderson are all older with the ability to play center. For now Herring might be the most college ready offensive lineman in the class, but with the depth on the line, he may still be buried. My guess is that he plays in a few early-season games, but not enough to burn his redshirt.
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Belleville (MI) Belleville linebacker Jeremiah Beasley committed to Michigan on Wednesday night. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Florida, Michigan State, Missouri, and Tennessee, among others.
Beasley is listed anywhere from 6’1″ to 6’2″ and 208-220 lbs. As a junior in 2022, Beasley ran for 1,250 yards and scored 27 touchdowns, along with making 108 tackles.
