Jake Guarnera, Wolverine
Ponte Vedra Beach (FL) Ponte Vedra center Jake Guarnera committed to Michigan on Friday. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Florida, Miami, Ole Miss, and Penn State, among others.
I wrote up a full scouting report on Guarnera Friday before his commitment, so feel free to check that out (LINK).
I had been working on an “If I Had My Druthers” post regarding finishing out the offensive line class, but there’s only so much time in a day, so I ran out of real estate for getting that posted. I still may complete the post now that Guarnera is in the fold, but . . . he was not particularly high on that list. The amazing thing is that it’s not even that he’s a bad prospect, but he was low on the list because so many high-quality linemen are interested in Michigan.
Guarnera will have to transition from playing left tackle in high school to playing center (or guard) in college, and it’s always difficult to gauge how those moves will go. For example, Reece Atteberry was another tackle who was slated for center, but he does not seem to have gained much traction there and now plays exclusively at guard.
Michigan now has five offensive linemen in the class and will probably try to land a sixth, if not a seventh. Guarnera is the best bet to play center. He is the third lowest ranked commit in the class, ahead of only German native Manuel Beigel and little known Zach Ludwig.
Guarnera would be the first player from Ponte Vedra High to play for Michigan.