Key recruiting flip adds elite local playmaker to Michigan Wolverines' secondary for class of 2025
Last week, the Michigan Wolverines lost a key defensive back recruit, Ivan Taylor, who flipped from the Wolverines to Alabama. That loss was a striking blow to Michigan, as Taylor would have been a starter virtually right away and was their second-highest-ranked recruit in the class. However, the Wolverines rebounded this week, beating out the […]
Last week, the Michigan Wolverines lost a key defensive back recruit, Ivan Taylor, who flipped from the Wolverines to Alabama. That loss was a striking blow to Michigan, as Taylor would have been a starter virtually right away and was their second-highest-ranked recruit in the class.
However, the Wolverines rebounded this week, beating out the Pitt Panthers to flip the commitment of four-star cornerback Elijah Dotson.
According to 247Sports, Dotson is the number two player in the state of Michigan, behind Bryce Underwood, in the 2025 class. He is a consensus four-star recruit and is the tenth-ranked safety in the class.
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Dotson has played all over in his high school career. A tremendous athlete who has taken snaps at cornerback, safety, wide receiver, kick returner, and even some wildcat quarterback snaps, he has played all over.
According to 247Sports, he is a four-time AAU Junior Olympian in track and a three-time All-State hurdler and clocked a 14.47 in the 100m hurdles and a 39.05 in the 300m hurdles. Doston finished his junior season with 66 tackles, three interceptions, and 11 pass breakups and caught 43 passes, for 1,653 all-purpose yards, and 18 total touchdowns on offense.
This is the exact kind of playmaker the Wolverines need in their secondary moving forward.
Makari Paige, Quinten Johnson, and Wesley Walker are all graduate students who will be out of eligibility following this season. That leaves almost 1,300 snaps completely up for grabs on their defense.
With Michigan also losing Will Johnson to the NFL Draft, they need as much talent in their secondary as they can get.
With Dotson's ability to play all over the defense, he can reasonably project to fill in that void at either position. The Wolverines already flipped cornerback Shamari Earls from Georgia, so they could opt to fully invest in a talented young cornerback duo that can carry the defense for the foreseeable future with Dotson manning the opposite side.
Or, Dotson can patrol the deep end out at safety. Michigan desperately needs an injection of speed and playmaking in the backend of coverages, and Dotson fits that profile to a T.
Either way, this is a massive win for Michigan, who needed to find a way to regain recruiting momentum and address their secondary after the Taylor flip. Keeping an elite player like Dotson home in Michigan is a nice cherry on top.
