Surprising Michigan football player listed on 247Sports ‘freshmen to watch’ list
Michigan football didn’t overwhelm fans with the caliber of its 2023 recruiting class, especially given that the team was coming off of two-straight College Football Playoff appearances. But, as the 2018 recruiting class — which had a similar lack of fanfare — has shown, stars and name recognition are only part of the equation, not the be-all, end-all.
247Sports put a list together of the 23 true freshmen to watch this upcoming season as they could make an instant impact. While the Wolverines have some obvious candidates, such as defensive tackle Trey Pierce, cornerback Jyaire Hill, wide receivers Semaj Morgan and Fredrick Moore, or edge rusher Enow Etta, writer Brad Crawford picked a player that, when he committed, didn’t get much love from fans.
However, once he showed out in the spring game this year, it made sense that media and fans are starting to see what the coaching staff saw when they offered him.
Benjamin Hall, RB, Michigan — One of the stars of the Wolverines’ spring game, Hall would be higher on this freshman impact ranking if he didn’t have two All-American candidates — Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards — playing in front of him. Hall would likely see a starting role as RB1 at just about every other Big Ten program in 2023 outside of Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin. He’s special.
Saying that Hall, a former three-star who often was an afterthought even on his high school team in Kennesaw, Georgia, would likely be the starting running back at most Big Ten schools is high, high praise, indeed. That said, we still need to see him take meaningful snaps outside of a team scrimmage to get a good beat on his career trajectory.
That said, he did impress on April 1, and certainly is changing minds quickly — not just in Ann Arbor, but around the country.
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