Michigan football was one of the first teams to reach out to Kent State defensive tackle transfer CJ West when he entered the transfer portal. Now, the Wolverines are one of the teams set to get a visit.
That’s according to a report from Allen Trieu of 247 Sports, who says that Wisconsin will host the 6-foot-2, 315-pound defensive tackle. He’s also going to visit Michigan football, as well as Indiana. LSU, Florida State, and Rutgers are also in the mix.
The visit was also confirmed by EJ Holland of The Wolverine.com. West, a graduate transfer with one season of eligibility left, has a few different ties to the Wolverines. For starters, he was a teammate of J.J. McCarthy and Tyler Morris back in high school. He was also recruited coming out of high school by Lou Esposito, who was with Western Michigan at the time.
Michigan football could use some DT depth
Esposito just showed that he can land an elite recruit on the trail, thanks to the commitment of top-50 overall defender Nate Marshall, who is the No. 4 defensive lineman in the 2025 class.
West has one season left and you have to think he’s trying to win, plus improve his NFL stock. Michigan football has helped plenty of defensive linemen reach the NFL. That has to be a selling point, although, West isn’t going to start for the Wolverines with Kenneth Grant, Mason Graham, and also Rayshaun Benny around. But Benny has been recovering from an injury, so added depth wouldn’t hurt.
Plus, as we saw last season, Michigan football isn’t afraid to play a bunch of guys on defense. So West would get plenty of opportunities. Last season, he played nearly 500 snaps for Kent State and notched 14 pressures. He’s also got 19.5 tackles for loss and seven career sacks.
West would be a great fit and as Michigan fans know, you can never have big guys.
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