3 takeaways from the commitment of Kainoa Winston to Michigan football

Michigan football recruiting is starting to heat up. We can say that officially after the Wolverines landed their second commitment of the week and the second top-100 commitment of the class.

After another post suggesting a commitment by head coach Sherrone Moore, the Wolverines officially landed the verbal commitment of Kainoa Winston. Penn State, Oregon, and North Carolina were the other top contenders for the No. 88 overall prospect according to the 247 Sports composite rankings.

BREAKING: Four-Star Safety Kainoa Winston has Committed to Michigan, he tells me for @on3recruits

The 5’11 195 S from Montgomery Village, MD chose the Wolverines over Penn State, Oregon, & North Carolina

“I’m A Michigan Man!”https://t.co/XlnJ7bnce2 pic.twitter.com/RLWoSr4PI0

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 14, 2024

Winston is also ranked in the top 100 according to the On3 industry rankings and is the ninth-best safety in the 2025 class in the composite. 247 Sports has him ranked 43rd in its rankings for the 2025 class.

Lamar Morgan was the primary recruiter and this is the seventh commitment total in the 2025 class. All seven are ranked as composite four stars and here are three takeaways from the commitment of Winston to Michigan football.

Sherrone Moore is finding his groove

It took a couple of months for Sherrone Moore to land his first commitment, but the first four have been really impressive. Two of them are top-100 commitments, while the other is Avery Gach, one of the top O-line prospects in the 2025 class and the No. 2 recruit in the state of Michigan.

6-foot-6, 265-pound defensive lineman Jaylen Wiliams is another good get. Even at No. 236 overall, he feels underrated to me. Nate Marshall, the other top-100 commitment is flirting with Auburn and took an official visit. But he was tweeting about Williams’ commitment and it feels like that will help keep Marshall in the fold.

Michigan signed one top-100 recruit between the 2023 and 2024 classes. The Wolverines have already gotten commitments from two in 2025. They still have to hold those commitments until signing day but the recruiting bump we expected under Moore has started to arrive.

Michigan football is getting a really good prospect

The Wolverines got a good one here. If Winston doesn’t turn into an All-Big Ten player, something went wrong. He’s 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, but his scouting report reads like the perfect nickel for Michigan football.

Winston is an aggressive tackler. He can play in the box but he also shows coverage ability too. He wasn’t asked to play a ton of man coverage in high school. His film shows a lot of two-deep looks, but he closes on the ball aggressively. It’s fun to watch.

He’s got some insane track times and even though he’s not asked to be a man-cover guy in high school doesn’t mean he can’t do it. That’s a lot to work with in Winston and it will be fun to watch him develop.

But he could play safety or nickel and he should help on special teams right away.

The narrative is wrong

Michigan isn’t landing a ton of five-star prospects and with its approach to NIL, it might not. But when you have seven commitments and all seven are four-star (composite) recruits, plus two are ranked in the top 100, and you have a top-15 quarterback who fits your offense perfectly, it’s a lot of things but not a failure.

This commitment won’t shut up Ohio State fans, who keep saying things like recruits aren’t coming because of the sanctions, which shows how truly clueless they are. I pity anyone who is that far gone from reality.

Michigan’s blue-chip ratio over the past two classes, including signings and commitments is 72 (24/33). That’s more than enough talent to win championships, especially if you are elite at development.

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