Wolverine TV: Can Michigan land two Top 100 RB recruits this cycle?

The Wolverine’s EJ Holland discussed several Michigan recruiting topics on the Wednesday edition of The Wolverine Live recruiting show, including the pursuit of Top 100 Longview (Texas) High running back Taylor Tatum.

Watch and listen to Holland share the latest on U-M recruiting below.

Michigan landed a commitment from Top 100 Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller running back Jordan Marshall this month. Marshall picked Michigan over finalists Ohio State, Tennessee and Wisconsin. However, Michigan is continuing to recruit the aforementioned Tatum.

In fact, Tatum still has Michigan in his top group and is looking to return to Ann Arbor for an official visit at some point this summer.

“I still think Taylor Tatum is a very viable option for Michigan even with Jordan Marshall committed,” Holland said. “Like I reported after the Marshall commitment, Tatum texted me back basically immediately and said ‘nothing but a little competition.’ Right now, Tatum is still planning to make a summer official visit to Michigan. I still think the Wolverines are still in a great spot there.

“There are some southern schools pushing, including Georgia, where he is set to visit this weekend. It is going to be a tough battle to get Taylor Tatum onboard, but I think Michigan continues to be right in the thick of things. It is very possible that Mike Hart can come away with two Top 10 backs, but we’ll see.”

At 5-foot-10, 195 pounds, Tatum is ranked as the No. 3 running back and No. 42 overall recruit nationally, per the On3 Industry Rankings. He is also ranked as the No. 9 overall prospect in the state of Texas.

Tatum has an On3 NIL Valuation of $155K with 6.7K followers across all platforms. The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.

Michigan has nine verbal commits in its 2024 recruiting class — Top 100 Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller running back Jordan Marshall, On300 Harper Woods (Mich.) High defensive back Jacob Oden, On300 Nashville (Tenn.) Ensworth linebacker Mason Curtis, On300 Bellevue (Wash.) High tight end Hogan Hansen, four-star Avon (Ohio) High offensive lineman Luke Hamilton, three-star Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier defensive lineman Ted Hammond, three-star Wallingford (Conn.) Choate Rosemary Hall defensive lineman Manuel Beigel, three-star Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward offensive lineman Ben Roebuck and three-star South Park (Pa.) High linebacker Zach Ludwig.

The class is currently ranked No. 8 nationally in the On3 industry rankings and No. 2 in the Big Ten behind Ohio State.