Michigan Football, Utah and West Virginia hit 2022 QB carousel

There aren’t many highly-ranked quarterbacks left in 2022 and Michigan football, Utah, and West Virginia landed top passers in the past week. 

As far as the 2022 quarterback recruiting carousel is concerned, if teams haven’t found one yet, they better hurry because the quality options are running out.

On Wednesday, Michigan football, which was still without a quarterback commitment in the 2022 class, finally struck gold with four-star signal-caller Jayden Denegal out of California.

The 6-foot-4 passer is ranked 266th overall according to the 247 sports composite rankings and he’s one of the few four-star rated quarterbacks still available.

In fact, following the commitment of Denegal to Michigan football and the pledge of Nicco Marchiol to West Virginia earlier this week, there is just one four-star quarterback that’s not committed left in the 247 sports composite rankings for 2022.

Zion Turner, a four-star recruit out of Florida is the last four-star, at least right now, who hasn’t committed and his recruitment is wide open. Texas A&M would probably be among the favorites but the Aggies already have a top-four commit in the class.

In addition to West Virginia adding Marchiol, which was a huge pickup for the Mountaineers, who effectively landed their quarterback of the future, Michigan football added a nice player to develop behind J.J. McCarthy, and Utah also added one of the most dynamic dual-threat quarterbacks in 2022 in Nate Johnson.

Utah football lands a fast-riser

If you are going to take a lower-rated quarterback in this class, you want to take one with upside and that’s what Utah football is getting in Johnson.

Ranked as the 37th-best quarterback in the 247 sports composite rankings for 2022, Johnson has been moving up the board. Not long ago, he was ranked in the 900s. Now, he’s ranked 578th overall following another update.

While Michigan football pushed hard for Johnson, Ann Arbor might have been a little far for the Clovis, California product. Johnson also is a true dual-threat option with his 10.5 time in the 100-meter dash and the Utes don’t have a five-star quarterback waiting to be the starter.

Johnson probably made a wise choice, at least in terms of getting a chance to start earlier and the Utes, who didn’t have a shot at any of the four-star QBs left, also made a smart move taking Johnson, who could prove to be a steal.

But now, teams like Michigan State are still searching for a quarterback. Ole Miss is too and Justyn Martin, a Cal commit, has been a top target for both schools.

The four-star QB ranked 20th in the composite rankings, has picked up a crystal ball projection to Ole Miss. He also was offered by UCLA.

Schools are catching on that the QB list is dwindling and that’s why fans of Utah, Michigan, and West Virginia should be happy they got their guys.