Michigan football in heated battle with Ohio State for coveted 5-star prospect

The Michigan football team could be picking up another big commitment soon, as 2026 five-star EDGE Carter Meadows recently dropped his top-four schools. The Wolverines made the cut, and so did three other big programs. Michigan is battling Ohio State, Penn State and South Carolina for the coveted recruit.

“BREAKING: Five-Star EDGE Carter Meadows is down to 4 Schools, he tells me for @on3recruits,” Hayes Fawcett said in a post. “The 6’6 235 EDGE from Washington, DC is ranked as the No. 6 Recruit in the ‘26 Class (per On3).”

Carter Meadows is a five-star recruit according to On3, but he is a four-star recruit on 247Sports. He is ranked as the #33 player in the 2026 class, the #4 EDGE and the #1 player in Washington, DC. Meadows currently attends Gonzaga College in DC. A couple of Meadows’ schools are closer to home than Michigan.

One thing that will certainly go a long way for the Michigan football team here is the success that they have had in recent years in terms of sending pass-rushers to the NFL. The Wolverines have had one of the best defensive lines in college football for multiple years in a row now, and a big reason why is the coaching staff developing their talent into first-round picks.

From Aidan Hutchinson to Mason Graham, the Michigan defense has seen a lot of their guys that wreak havoc in the backfield get drafted early. The Wolverines are hoping to continue that trend, and Meadows certainly has the talent to develop into an NFL prospect.

The Wolverines are starting to pick up some momentum on the recruiting trail, and they are hoping to see that continue into the summer months. The next few months are when we really see which schools are going to have the best classes. Carter Meadows is getting close to making a decision, and a commitment from him would be massive for the Michigan football team.