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The Michigan football team got some good recruiting news earlier in the day on Wednesday as four-star safety Elijah Dotson flipped from Pitt to the Wolverines, but it wasn't long before some bad news rolled around. Just a few hours later, four-star defensive lineman Jaylen Williams announced that he is flipping his commitment from Michigan to Wisconsin. Recruiting giveth, recruiting taketh away.
“BREAKING: Four-Star DL Jaylen Williams has Flipped his Commitment from Michigan to Wisconsin, he tells me for @on3recruits,” Hayes Fawcett said in a post. “The 6’6 250 DL from Palatine, IL had been Committed to the Wolverines since June.”
Upon flipping from Michigan to Wisconsin, Jaylen Williams had a short and sweet message for Badger nation.
“God’s Plan,” Williams said.
Williams is a four-star recruit according to 247 Sports, and he is the #225 player in the 2025 recruiting class. He is the #26 defensive lineman in the class and the #6 player in the state of Illinois. Williams currently attends Palatine High School in Palatine, Illinois.
“Tall, long frame with athleticism and a basketball background,” 247 Sports' Allen Trieu wrote in his scouting report for Williams. “Gets off the ball with quickness and makes a good number of negative plays in the backfield. Runs by his high school competition quite a bit or wins quickly with his size and strength.”
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Like every player going from high school to college, there are things for Williams to improve, but he should be a valuable asset in the future for the Wisconsin football team.
“Will need to get more technically adept at shedding against more even competition in college,” The scouting report states. “Has a little bit of experience standing up, but we're likely looking at a 290-300+ pound hand-down college lineman. He fits very well in an odd-front as an end. In a 4-3, he could be a combo guy but will likely grow into more of an interior player in that scheme. Still learning and has rawness to his game, but has clear high-major physical gifts and plays the game hard which is a good foundation.”
Right now, the Michigan football team has the better class, so the Badgers needed this one more than the Wolverines did. Still, this obviously isn't something that Michigan wanted to happen as Jaylen Williams is an elite prospect and he should go on to have a good college career.
Michigan currently has the #14 recruiting class in the country, and Wisconsin is sitting at #25. The Wolverines have the fourth best class in the Big Ten and the Badgers have the ninth best.
Both Michigan and Wisconsin are struggling on the football field this year as they both have 5-5 overall records and 3-4 records in Big Ten play. A good way to improve is by doing well on the recruiting trail, and while both teams have solid classes this year, Michigan's is still better despite losing Williams.
