2022 Recruiting Roundup: U-M In Top Six For Braelon Allen, Offer Out To Peter Taoipu

The Wolverines have been active in recruiting both 2021 and 2022 prospects, and Wolverine Digest has an update about a pair of big targets for Michigan.

Braelon Allen / submitted

While Michigan has been making waves recently with its success in the 2021 recruiting class (see: landing Xavier Worthy and Quintin Somerville), the Wolverines have been doing well in the '22 cycle as well,

At the moment, Essexville (Mich.) Garber athlete Alex VanSuemren, who is the brother of current U-M junior Ben VanSuemren, is the only player committed to the Wolverines, and he has reaffirmed that early pledge despite landing a few big time offers in the recent months.

But looking beyond that lone commit, Michigan has made an impact with a bunch of prospects that look to be high targets for the program. For example, Fon Du Lac (Wis.) High four-star safety Braelon Allen landed an offer from the Wolverines in early May, and this scholarship offer really resonated with the 2022 recruit since he has had an affinity for U-M for quite some time.

“The tradition overall is the biggest thing for me,” Allen told Wolverine Digest in May. “What really sparked it is the first ever team that I played for was the Wolverines when I started playing football. That is kind of what got me interested in Michigan. Ever since then, it’s just been a dream school of mine. The tradition overall, Coach [Jim] Harbaugh, really everything about it, plus the academics.”

Now, Allen recently put out a top group of six schools, and Michigan made the cut along with Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan State, Florida State and Notre Dame. Shortly after making his announcement, Allen spoke with All Badgers' Jake Kocorowski about why each program made the cut, and he said he's built a strong bond with U-M head coach Jim Harbaugh and safeties coach Bob Shoop over the past couple months. Those relationships when combined with his early interest in the Wolverines made Michigan an “easy pick” for his top group.

Edit: Just days after announcing his top six, Braelon Allen committed to Wisconsin. Allen made his announcement less than an hour after this article was first published, so he is likely off the board for U-M. Michigan has offered 12 other safeties in the class, including former commit Myles Rowser, so there are more than a handful of other options at the position going forward. 

New offer out to 2022 DT

Elsewhere in the country, U-M defensive line coach Shaun Nua is continuing to scour the West coast for players that could fit into Michigan's system. At the moment, defensive tackle is the largest need out of the positions Nua coaches, so it is unsurprising that the interior defensive line is a priority in both the 2021 and 2022 classes.

Along that same line, Nua extended an offer to Sammamish (Wash.) Eastside Catholic defensive tackle Peter Taoipu on Monday night. At the moment, Michigan is the first scholarship offer for the imposing defensive tackle, but he also has interest from Washington according to 247Sports.com.

At the moment, Michigan has offered 12 defensive tackles in the '22 cycle, so Nua is spreading his net fairly wide at this early juncture, but that will only help the program know where it stands with the players who project to be top interior D-Linemen in their class;

According to his Twitter account, Taoipu stands at 6-6 and 345 pounds and uses every inch and pound of that size to gain an advantage on the field. As would be expected, Taoipu is a strong prospect that overwhelms opponents with his size and stature quite often. He has the power to blow offensive lineman off the ball before engulfing running backs that attempt to slice through the defensive line. Naturally, Taoipu's mobility is not the greatest since he is so large, but he has plenty of time to refine his physique and add both speed and quickness to his game before reaching the collegiate level.

Look for Michigan to continue identifying junior prospects early that could be poised to have a big 2020 season, as is the case with Taoipu.

With the 2021 class nearly cinched up, which 2022 targets would be at the top of your board? Which positions are of the largest importance in your mind? Let us know!