Michigan football projected to land major target in 2025 class

Michigan football has some positive things happening on the recruiting trail and that doesn’t even include stealing a “rock star” recruiting staffer away from Ohio State.

The Wolverines landed a four-star defensive line recruit earlier this week in 6-foot-6, 265-pound Jaylen Williams. He’s ranked 236th overall in the 2025 class according to the 247 Sports composite rankings and Michigan now has six commitments in 2025 — all blue-chippers.

We talked about who could be the next to commit on Tuesday, but another name is trending to the Wolverines as Kainoa Winston, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound safety out of Washington, D.C., has started trending with expert projections to commit to Michigan football.

Michigan football projected to land a top DB target

EJ Holland of The Wolverine was the first to project the standout to U-M following his visit last weekend to Penn State. Winston who is ranked 88th overall in the 2025 class according to the 247 Sports composite rankings, trimmed his list down to three with Michigan and Penn State right at the top.

Michigan set the bar high on its visit and it doesn’t seem like Penn State did enough to move the needle. Josh Henschke of Rivals also projected Winston to the Wolverines. Michigan has a better than 80-percent chance to land his commitment via the On3 prediction machine, but there aren’t any crystal balls just yet.

Still, if Michigan was able to get Winston’s commitment, it would be another massive addition to the 2025 class. It would give the Wolverines a second top-100 pledge, assuming they don’t lose Nate Marshall, and would be a great piece to add to the secondary to get things started with the 2025 haul.

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