Who is the best Defensive Lineman in Michigan's Class of 2027?

We have an interesting defensive line class. All in all, this class is pretty wide open and pretty raw. A few players with great size and measurables, but only one has truly stood out as the best. Any of these five players could develop into stars at the next level, and this off-season is extremely critical in learning who'll stand out amongst the pack.    Who knew- West Michigan has some DUDES!   I went into this rankings update not knowing a whole lot about Luke. Though he really, really stands out in his highlight tape. He fires off the ball very quickly, has a wide tackle radius, and is decent at shedding blocks. That's really the one and only problem I have- Luke needs to get used to shedding blocks against very good interior linemen. That means learning how to move his feet and hands simultaneously. Though, this plays a much larger role in his pass rush than it does his run stopping.   Against the run, Luke does a phenomenal job of anchoring down, keeping his eyes in the backfield, and attacking the running back if he crosses an adjacent gap. There are several great highlights where Luke stops an accelerating RB in his tracks.   This evaluation was a bit jumbled. In short, Luke does a phenomenal job of stopping the inside run, while I expect his pass rush needs some work. Also, I know he's a very hard worker. I've heard nothing but great things about Luke in that regard.     Cartwright is a player I'm ranking largely based on potential. I like his JV tape quite a bit, and he has the size plus coaching to develop into a D2 prospect at the very least. Cartwright seems to have pretty good bend, and I like his getoff. The biggest thing for Cartwright is to keep his foot on the gas. Now is probably the most consequential offseason of his high school career. Excited to see Cartwright meet my expectations and be a good varsity player next season.     Recarder checks a LOT of boxes. Enough boxes to be the #1 EDGE player and a very probably B1G 10 or SEC prospect. He's big, tall, long, and squats 500. Absolute monster of a football player, and worlds above the vast majority of high school football players. Plus, he has an elite offensive line to train against.   He doesn't have a ton of tape for this season, but what he does have is impressive. Love his burst, love the length, and he's just got to keep repping pass rush. There's no reason why Recarder can't be a top-tier college football player.     I've talked about Jack quite a bit over the past year. He's got the height, he's got the length, he just needs to learn his style of pass rush. His leg length allows him to have a massive first step, and his arm length indicates massive upside when it comes to pass rush. He's still pretty raw.   After this off-season, we should have a better idea if Jack can earn a B1G 10 offer or if he's a MAC player.     Underrated prospect from Big Rapids, and my #3 defensive lineman currently in the class!   Max does a great job on both sides of the ball. I always think back to the MHSAA Evaluation Camp in Jenison- Max outperformed a lot of SENIORS on the defensive line. He was built extremely well last year, and I bet he's even stronger this year.   This past season, Max repped at TE as well as DL. At TE, he was a solid target and did his best to break tackles and fight for extra yards. Defensively, Max does a solid job at using his hands to fight off blocks while keeping an eye on the backfield. He's not super polished in that regard, but I'm confident he'll continue to develop his game.

We have an interesting defensive line class. All in all, this class is pretty wide open and pretty raw. A few players with great size and measurables, but only one has truly stood out as the best. Any of these five players could develop into stars at the next level, and this off-season is extremely critical in learning who'll stand out amongst the pack.