Wolverine TV: 1-on-1 with Michigan TE commit Eli Owens

The Wolverine’s EJ Holland recently sat down with three-star Michigan tight end commit Eli Owens to get his thoughts on the future of U-M and much more.

Watch the full Q&A in the video above.

Owens Recruitment

Owens picked Michigan over offers from Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan State, Ohio State, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin and others in January.

“With the way I get used at my high school, it would be a seamless transition,” Owens said. “The coaches and all the guys in the room are outstanding. Anybody would be lucky to play for Michigan.”

Owens visited Michigan on numerous occasions over the last year. His two trips to Ann Arbor in November sealed the deal for the Wolverines.

Michigan assistant coach Grant Newsome led the way in this recruitment and ultimately won Owens over. Newsome has since transitioned to coaching the offensive line, but new position coach Steve Casula is bonding well with the Alcoa (Tenn.) High prospect.

“He seems like a really cool guy,” Owens said. “We talk a lot. He seems really invested in the program. He was an analyst at Michigan and had an opportunity to go to UMass, where he put up numbers. I don’t doubt him and his abilities one bit.”

Here is what Holland had to say about Owens as a player:

“I think Eli is a really talented prospect,” Holland said. “Michigan was the leader on the On3 Prediction Machine with a 94.4 percent chance of landing him. I was actually the first one across all networks to put in a prediction for Michigan to land Owens. I think Michigan always had the lead in this recruitment. He’s visited upwards of 10-12 times. He has family in the Detroit-metro.”

Owens is completely solid to U-M and is looking to make two visits next month, including for the annual spring game on April 20.

At 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, Owens is ranked as the No. 26 tight end and No. 451 overall prospect nationally, per the On3 Industry Ranking. Owens is also ranked as the No. 15 overall recruit in the state of Tennessee for next cycle.

Michigan currently has three verbal commitments in its 2025 recruiting class in Owens, On300 Fort Myers (Fla.) Bishop Verot quarterback Carter Smith and On300 Howell (Mich.) High defensive lineman Bobby Kanka. The class is ranked No. 19 nationally and No. 5 in the Big Ten, per the On3 Industry team recruiting rankings.