Michigan is becoming the favorite for blue-chip EDGE Jacob Smith

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Four-star EDGE Jacob Smith is one of the top prospects on Kentucky’s 2024 recruiting board. Unfortunately, many signs are pointing to Michigan in this recruitment.

Jacob Smith and Jerod Smith are twin brothers who hail from Somerset, Kentucky. The brothers have relocated to Connecticut and are both four-star prospects in the class of 2024. Kentucky and Notre Dame appeared to be the top contenders for the twins for a long time. However, Michigan has made a major move in recent months.

Jerod Smith ended his recruitment on April 26 with a commitment to Michigan. That caught some by surprise. Jacob Smith still needs to make a decision and has official visits scheduled with Michigan (June 2-4), Kentucky (June 9-11), and Nebraska (June 16-18). The Wolverines are considered the favorites heading into those official visits.

Michigan is trending heavily to land 4-star EDGE Jacob Smith, according to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine 📈https://t.co/TPY3WPy8n6 pic.twitter.com/qrjdY0MKeI
— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) May 5, 2023

There have been three expert picks logged for Jim Harbaugh’s program over the last week giving the two-time defending Big Ten champs an 89.5 percent chance to land Smith, according to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine. Kentucky and Nebraska both have some ground to cover. Beating out Michigan — who already has twin brother Jerod Smith in the class — could be difficult.

This could help Kentucky’s pursuit of Brian Robinson

Jacob Smith has been a key Kentucky football recruiting target for a long time, but so has Brian Robinson. The top-200 recruit camped at Kentucky last fall and is one of Vince Marrow’s top recruits in this cycle. Robinson has been to Lexington multiple times, but there have also been many trips to Ann Arbor and State College.

Last week, Robinson scheduled official visits to Kentucky, Michigan, and Penn State. The Wildcats have a great shot in this recruitment no matter what happens with Jacob Smith. However, a recruiting win in Connecticut could take the Wolverines out of the running in Ohio.

EDGE is a position of need in the 2024 cycle for Kentucky. Landing one of Jacob Smith or Brian Robinson feels like a must. We should learn some more about each of these recruitments in June once official visits are completed.