Joel Klatt explains why Michigan 'desperately needed' Jadyn Davis commitment

Michigan landed a huge commitment last week when four-star quarterback Jadyn Davis chose to commit to the Wolverines. Landing one of the top quarterback recruits in the nation always is a cause for excitement, but college football analyst Joel Klatt explained why Davis’ commitment is is even more paramount for Michigan moving forward.

“Jadyn Davis choses Michigan, and so now Michigan’s got their quarterback for 2024,” Klatt said. “This is exactly opposite of USC and the reason is because Michigan desperately needed this to transition from what was a disappointing year in 2023. A year in which they did not sign a five-star player, a year in which they were outside of the top 15 in terms of national recruiting rankings, and now all of a sudden they are capitalizing on the moment of back-to-back Big Ten championships, back-to-back wins over Ohio State, back-to-back playoff appearances.”

It’s hard to deny the Wolverines’ success on the field the last two seasons, as they’ve dominated the Big Ten conference. But they have not dominated in recruiting, with the No. 18 ranked recruiting class in the nation last year in 2023 according to On3’s Industry Ranking Football Team Recruiting Rankings. But the commitment of Davis cements a strong start to their 2024 class, that already ranks within the top five nationally.

“And now in 2024 they’ve got the number three class so far, which if they can keep that up, that would be a huge win. Remember, last year in 2023 they finished third in the Big Ten in recruiting because they didn’t even beat Penn State in recruiting. Penn State had a better class, Ohio State had a better class, and that was surprising after back-to-back Big Ten titles,” Klatt explained .And so now they’re putting a flag in the sand and they’re saying okay, we are gonna compete in this recruiting landscape and Jadyn Davis is a guy that seems very firm in his commitment.”

It’s no secret that the Big Ten conference runs through it’s top teams, and staying at the top in recruiting certainly helps in those top teams sustaining success. Klatt believes that Davis will help the future of the Wolverines in various ways, from recruiting players to keeping the upper hand on their rival that they’ve had for the last two seasons.

“He seems like a guy that will now go to work to help Michigan recruit other top players in 2024, which is important you need that kind of cornerstone piece of your recruiting class that will go out there and help you with other guys. And maybe more importantly they have a better quarterback recruit committed for 2024 than Ohio State does, and that’s the first time you can say that in a long time,” Klatt said.

He continued, “but here’s Michigan and they’re sitting there and they’ve got a better quarterback committed than Ohio State for 2024, they’re third in the country now in overall recruiting for 2024, next year’s class. This is a big get for Michigan and it’s something that they can build on for the future and they’ve needed this, they’ve needed a big recruiting win for a long time and they finally got it with Jadyn Davis five-star quarterback.”