Ole Miss has had four-star running back Jerrion Ealy committed for almost a full year, but at this point its almost certain that he’ll end up pursing a professional baseball career instead of playing college football in Oxford. Which is why it’d be huge if the Rebels could steal four-star all-purpose running back Eric Gray away from Michigan.
Earlier this week, 247Sports’ David Johnson reported that Gray, a Memphis native, has scheduled an official visit to Ole Miss on December 8th. He’s already taken three unofficial visits to Oxford this year.
Gray verbally committed to the Wolverines over the summer, but recent reports indicate he may be reconsidering. Take this tweet from Michigan Football Report’s James Yoder last month.
Hearing even more chatter that the skies are turning from blue to Gray for Michigan football recruiting...
— James Yoder (@JamesTYoder) September 20, 2018
Seems more likely than not that an SEC school is going to steal a key Michigan football commitment
Good thing that the great news of Dax Hill overrules any decomitments!
Not that Ole Miss is necessarily the SEC team being alluded to. Rivals’ Chad Simmons seems to think Tennessee is gaining ground.
Another one, from the state of Tennessee is Michigan running back commit Eric Gray. The Vols appear to be a real threat to the Wolverines. Gray took his official visit to Knoxville last month, and he has remained in contact with the Tennessee staff. Ole Miss is in this too, but based on what I am hearing, Tennessee may be the one program Michigan is most worried about.
Gray has already officially visited Knoxville as well as Michigan and Penn State. His fourth official visit will be to Oxford in December and he has yet to announce who will get his fifth and final trip. Recruits don’t have to use all five visits and the Rebs would love to be the last school to host Gray before the early signing period starts.
On top of this, Michigan has two other running backs committed for the 2019 class with Gray and Jim Harbaugh signed two more in 2018. And per Kansas and Missouri’s Rivals.com writer, Randy Withers, the Wolverines have offered another 2019 running back this morning so one could surmise that Harbaugh and his staff see the writing on the wall with the Memphis back.
The 5’10, 193-pounder is not just a key target for this 2019 class because of Ealy’s eventual landing spot, but because of the terrible luck they’ve had recently with running back signees. Former four-stars Eric Swinney and D’Vaughn Pennamon have both been injury prone and may never be the same. And even though freshman Isaiah Woullard has been a pleasant surprise this season, Gray’s 4.5 speed, toughness between the tackles, and 35” vertical would be an added dimension to the offense that has been missing for quite some time.
Michigan commit Eric Gray got him slidin’ @ericdgray1 pic.twitter.com/geblPZdKix
— Overtime (@overtime) July 8, 2018
The nation’s No. 3 all-purpose back has played in nine games this season and has already run for 1,913 yards and 33 touchdowns. He’s averaging 212.6 yards per game and 12(!) yards per carry. In fact, aside from a blowout win over Craigmont (Tenn.) in which he only ran it 11 times for 129 yards and four touchdowns, he’s run for at least 179 yards and three touchdowns in every game this season.