New Michigan Football Commit Earns DPOY Honors

As we all know, the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines are about to face the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl (CFP semi-final) in Pasadena, CA; however, another major point of college football-related news as of late was National Signing Day for the 2024 recruiting class, which happened last week, and saw Jim Harbaugh go 27 for 27 on getting his verbal commits to ink their letters of intent. Soon after, new Michigan football signee Jaden Smith, a four-star linebacker, earned some major honors.

Michigan football signee Jaden Smith earns regional DPOY honors

Jaden Smith is not the highest-ranked Michigan football signee in the 2024 recruiting class; yet, like a number of other new commits for the Wolverines, he appears to be quite underrated by major recruiting sites. Of course, his 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame makes him stand out physically, though his No. 348 overall ranking (for the 2024 recruiting class) perhaps does not fully showcase Smith’s skillset and talent level.

While Jaden Smith may not jump off the page when it comes to national recruiting rankings, Jim Harbaugh wanted him in Ann Arbor, and it’s clear that he is an underrated talent — something that Michigan football tends to find quite often. In fact, on Christmas Day, Jaden Smith announced that the Charlotte Observer has named him their 2023 High School Defensive Player of the Year, which includes all players in the Charlotte region.

Blessed and grateful to be named the @theobserver DPOY.

God is great. More work to be done.1 https://t.co/gyUdAeibOz pic.twitter.com/2TlZV46avq

— J4 (@jadensmith200) December 25, 2023

Stats and rankings for the new Michigan linebacker

Per On3, Smith is a four-star linebacker recruit, ranking as the No. 30 linebacker in the nation and the No. 11 player in the state of North Carolina (2024 class) in the Industry Rankings. As a senior, the year before he enrolls at Michigan in 2024, Smith recorded a whopping 94 tackles, 25 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, and blocked five kicks (three punts and two field goals) — some insane defensive production, to say the least.

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