The University of Michigan has always been able to recruit some of the best high school football players in the country, but head coach Jim Harbaugh has taken that recruiting to new heights this season.
Michigan football owns the No. 4 recruiting class in the country, according to 247 Sports. Only Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia have classes ranked above Michigan's.
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The depth of Harbaugh's class is defined by 18 four-star players, but for the first time since college football recruiting became as wildly popular as it is now, Michigan is welcoming multiple five-star players to Ann Arbor.
The first five-star is a name very familiar to fans in Metro Detroit: Cass Tech wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones.
Peoples-Jones is the No. 1 player in Michigan and the top wide receiver in the 2017 recruiting class. He had scholarship offers from 24 schools but narrowed the list down to five finalists -- Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Florida and Florida State -- before choosing the Wolverines.
With top receiving options Amara Darboh, Jehu Chesson and tight end Jake Butt graduating, Peoples-Jones is one of the talented young players who could make a difference for Michigan early in his career. His combination of size, speed and reliable hands should make him a staple in the Wolverines' offense.
Harbaugh's second five-star commitment of the season came on National Signing Day, when defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon chose Michigan.
Solomon fills another position of need for Michigan, which is working to build a lethal defensive line around returning players like Rashan Gary and Maurice Hurst.
Solomon is the No. 2 defensive tackle in this year's class and the No. 25 overall player. Both of Michigan's starting defensive tackles -- Ryan Glasgow and Matthew Godin -- graduated this season, so there's playing time to go around for talented young inside rushers.
Another critical takeaway from Solomon's recruitment is Harbaugh's ability to pull elite players out of the south. Not many five-star recruits from Georgia end up in Big Ten country, but this is the second year in a row Michigan has landed a top defensive tackle from out of state. Last season, Gary -- the No. 1 overall recruit -- left New Jersey to begin his college career in Ann Arbor.
Harbaugh has finished each of his first two seasons at Michigan with 10-3 records, lifting the program from a stretch in which it missed bowl games three times in seven years and only won more than eight games once. With back-to-back elite recruiting classes, the Wolverines are starting to build depth on the roster and feature playmakers at key positions like defensive line and wide receiver.
Two players can't make a winning football team, especially in a division as competitive as the Big Ten East. But Michigan lost three games by a total of five points last season, so the team is much closer to competing on the national stage than expected.
With dozens of seniors leaving the program this offseason, it was essential for Michigan to bring in a strong recruiting class. Harbaugh has accomplished that goal and put Michigan in position to survive its losses and compete for a Big Ten championship over the coming years.