Michigan may have found its quarterback of the future Monday when Dylan McCaffrey joined its 2017 recruiting class.
He shared news of his decision on his Twitter page:
The 6’5”, 200-pound McCaffrey is a 4-star prospect, per 247Sports’ composite rankings, and the No. 45 overall player, No. 2 pro-style quarterback and No. 1 player from the state of Colorado in the 2017 class.
The name should ring a bell among football fans because he is the son of three-time Super Bowl champion wide receiver Ed McCaffrey and the brother of 2015 Heisman Trophy runner-up Christian McCaffrey. Christian McCaffrey led the Stanford Cardinal to a Rose Bowl victory over Iowa and broke the NCAA record for all-purpose yardage in a season in 2015.
A number of schools showed interest in McCaffrey at times during the 2017 recruiting cycle, including Michigan, Nebraska, UCLA, Oklahoma, Duke and Penn State.
McCaffrey talked about what attracted him to Michigan in particular as a recruit, per Brandon Justice of SB Nation's Maize N Brew: “No one out there is better than Harbaugh, maybe just as good, but no one is better. I love how (Harbaugh) adjusts. Look what he did with Colin Kaepernick. He gets the best out of his guys.”
Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh recently landed the No. 5 class in the 2016 recruiting cycle, per 247Sports, and his touch on the trail apparently has already carried over into next year's class given McCaffrey's comments and verbal pledge.
McCaffrey was named to the MaxPreps’ 2015 junior All-American team after he threw for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns and added 592 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground as a junior. He also led his team to a state title in Colorado.
Max Preps passed along some of his notable highlights:
McCaffrey is listed as a pro-style quarterback by 247Sports and certainly has the prototypical ingredients that come along with that distinction, including impressive height and arm strength. It is not difficult to envision him standing in the pocket and slinging the ball downfield for years to come at the college level.
He boasts the necessary accuracy to keep the chains moving and the soft touch to beat cornerbacks over the top when they press receivers at the line of scrimmage. However, he is also athletic (he is a McCaffrey after all) and can make defenders miss in the open field as a runner when the pocket breaks down.
With such a versatile skill set and an NFL pedigree, McCaffrey is one of the early headliners of Michigan's 2017 group as the Wolverines look to build on last year's 10-3 season, which included a 41-7 beatdown of the SEC's Florida in the Citrus Bowl.
Read more Big Ten Football news on BleacherReport.com