Michigan Wolverines

Over the next week, WolverineNation will give a brief look at five players to keep an eye on during spring practice for varying reasons.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- While Taco Charlton is just one of the six early enrolling freshmen this spring, but the defensive end is more intriguing than most for the simple reason that he’ll potentially have a chance to play.

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The writers at WolverineNation and BuckeyeNation put their heads together to break down the rivals' 2013 recruiting classes. They'll give readers a position-by-position look at who coaches Brady Hoke and Urban Meyer signed and, ultimately, which class edged out the other. It's too early to say what will happen through the next few seasons, and we won't make any promises except that Hoke and Meyer are going to put talent on the field.

Michigan got: Michigan landed the top offensive line class in 2013 for the entire country, so this battle was easy. The Wolverines landed six total offensive linemen, five of whom are within the ESPN 300.

Michigan landed four offensive linemen in 2012 and to build depth across the line, the coaching staff decided to take six in this class.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- There’s no way to look at Michigan’s 2013 class and not believe Brady Hoke when he says he’s putting an emphasis up front.

Not only is it impressive that the Wolverines were able to pull in six offensive line signees, each is big and physical (averaging 6-foot-5, 295 pounds).

“It was very important for us to establish guys who can play at the line of scrimmage the way we want to play Michigan football,” Hoke said. “For the style of football we need to play, I think that was important.”

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With six offensive line commitments, the Michigan coaching staff has turned a weakness into a strength. It's no secret that Michigan's offensive line was an area of concern in the 2012 season and it's easy to see the coaches were interested in fixing that problem.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The final ESPN150/300 rankings and class rankings were released on Thursday. A Michigan class that started out the 2013 teams rankings at No. 1 slipped again, mostly do to a precipitous drop for one prospect.

But the news wasn’t all bad, as one of the five offensive line commits in the class made a nice move up the charts.

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Logan Tuley-Tillman (Peoria, Ill./Manual) is Michigan's highest ranked offensive line commit at No. 105 overall. He has had some up and down camp performances recently, though, some due to injury and some due to carrying bad weight.

Tuley-Tillman has worked hard in the off-season to drop some of that weight and get in shape for the Under Armour All-America game, and is hoping his work pays off.

So far in practice, the 6-foot-7 Michigan commit has gone up against the top defensive linemen in the country, including the No. 2 overall player Carl Lawson (Alpharetta, Ga./Milton). Tuley-Tillman has won some battles and has lost a few, but he recognizes this is a good experience for him before he moves on to the next level.

He will be enrolling early at Michigan, so the Under Armour practice and the head start at Michigan should be a big boost for Tuley-Tillman's development.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- As of the beginning of the 2012 football season, it seemed as though the Wolverines had pretty much secured the best offensive line classes they could’ve hoped for in the 2012 and 2013 classes. But when No. 1 offensive guard David Dawson (Detroit/Cass Tech) and Michigan parted ways, a few questions emerged. But even without Dawson, the O-line commits in Brady Hoke’s first two full classes still seem very strong.

Since that point the Michigan coaching staff has extended offers, re-extended offers and reached out to players who hadn’t been on the radar for months. To break down the search, here’s a timeline of O-line recruiting for this class.

Feb. 18: OT Chris Fox, OG Kyle Bosch and Dawson commit.

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Running back Derrick Green (Richmond, Va./Hermitage) will be one of the biggest visitors on campus for Michigan on Saturday. The four-star is the No. 6 back in the country and will be in Ann Arbor for the second time this year, this time to see what Michigan has to offer on game day.

"I think the game atmosphere is the biggest thing for me," he said. "I just want to see how they do it on game day and what they do pregame. I want to see that in person and what they have to offer up close."

Green says he's expecting it to be loud and crazy in the Big House, and understands this rivalry is one of the biggest games of the year for the Wolverines. He has been in contact with some of the Michigan commits about what to expect and what it might be like with 110,000 screaming fans.

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Offensive lineman Denzel Ward (Chicago/Hales Franciscan) was the only prospect to receive a Michigan offer while visiting for the Illinois game on Saturday.

"It's a dream come true," he said. "I'll be up there next week [for the Michigan State game] as well to continue building the relationships."

The 6-foot-9 junior now holds offers from Michigan and Purdue, but has been hearing from other Big Ten and SEC programs. Since he really has been playing football for only one season, Ward is taking everything in stride and with his eyes wide open.

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The 2013 Michigan commitments have built some tight bonds, so it's no surprise that they’re in disbelief over the decommitment of David Dawson (Detroit/Cass Tech) on Sunday.

That being said, the recruits also know that despite Dawson being ranked the No. 1 guard in the country he won't make or break the class.

"Obviously he's a good kid and if he feels that Michigan isn't where he wants to be then we wouldn't want him to come here if it's not what he wants," quarterback commit Shane Morris (Warren, Mich./De La Salle) said. "It's just one guy and he's obviously a big part of the class, but I'm sure there are still kids that want to come to Michigan."

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The Weekly Update at WolverineNation is a sneak peak inside Michigan recruiting.

As with everything we do here, we ask that this information stays on The Den Forum.

This information is for WolverineNation subscribers only.

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SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- Brady Hoke stood up and started pacing on the stage Wednesday afternoon in the Southfield High School auditorium, addressing some players who are already committed to Michigan, others he is trying to recruit and more still who will never have a shot to play for the Wolverines.

The second-year Michigan coach was invited to speak at the Sound Mind Sound Body Academy and spent a little more than 18 minutes touching on a variety of topics, ranging from explaining to the high school players there how he starts a team meeting with his players to the importance of senior leadership and accountability.

“It was tailored a little bit for what these kids are going through,” Hoke said. “What we try and go through to give them an image of who we are and what we are all about.”

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