Michigan Lands Massachusetts 4-Star RB Dillon and Alabama 3-Star SS Woods
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
The Michigan Wolverines staff has flipped the recruiting trail on its ear since head coach Jim Harbaugh took over. Big Blue is trying anything and everything to get attention of top high school talent nationwide and so far, on paper, it is working to perfection. Michigan added two more recruits to their 2017 recruiting class after another Junior Day over the weekend landing Massachusetts running back AJ Dillon and Alabama safety J’Marick Woods.
Stats on Woods is incomplete but suffice to say that despite 13 reported offers, he is still an under the radar recruit. Woods is credited with 35 tackles, 27 solo, four tackles for a loss, two picks, and two passes broken up through just five games. The big 6’3”, 205 pound, safety was always around the ball for Florence High School making big plays in the passing game breaking up passes or picking off passes for a score going the other way. Against the ground attack, Woods was a hard hitting run stopper who could fill out as an outside linebacker at the next level.
The Wolverines have been on Woods for a while hosting him on an unofficial on Oct. 17. Woods has also visited Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Kentucky. Other teams to offer the Alabama rising star includes Florida, Duke, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Louisville, and Penn State.
Dillon helped guide Lawrence Academy to a New England Championship in 2015 with the Spartans posting an 8-1 record beating Suffield 28-7 for the Massachusetts state honors. The 6’1”, 230 pound, back rushed for 1,887 yards with 26 scores in nine games besting his sophomore season of 1,368 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground. Dillon earned All-New England Co-MVP honors and was All-League Co-MVP at the end of his junior campaign.
The Massachusetts 4-star has not taken the recruiting process lightly. Dillon has 17 reported Division-I offers from teams like Mississippi State, Nebraska, Florida State, Iowa, Boston College, Virginia, Temple, Maryland, Michigan State, North Carolina, Penn State, Wake Forest, Illinois, and Notre Dame. Dillon took unofficial visits to Boston College, Michigan State, Temple, Villanova, Syracuse, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Duke, and Virginia. Leading to his commitment to the Wolverines he had visits set with Notre Dame (March 19), Michigan (March 22), and Wisconsin (March 23).
Michigan now has seven verbal commitments to their 2017 class with six different states and provinces accounted for thus far.
Michigan Wolverines 2017 Verbal Commitment List
SS J’Marick Woods, 6-3, 205, Florence HS, Florence, AL
CB Benjamin St.-Juste, 6-3, 185, Vieux, Montreal, Quebec
LB Josh Ross, 6-2, 225, St. Mary’s HS, West Bloomfield, MI
QB Dylan McCaffrey, 6-5, 200, Valor Christian HS, Littleton, CO
RB AJ Dillon, 6-1, 230, Lawrence Academy, Groton, MA
RB Kurt Taylor, 5-9, 200, Newton HS, Covington, GA
OL Ja’Raymond Hall, 6-5, 282, Oak Park HS, Oak Park, MI
TE Carter Dunaway, 6-6, 232, Brother Rice, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Photo credit: twitter.com; AJ Dillon at Michigan (March 2016).
Photo credit: twitter.com; J’Marick Woods at Florence High School.