Michigan freshman Tariq Boney earns national recognition from ESPN

Michigan football had several incoming freshmen this year who had a ton of hype surrounding them. From five-stars such as running back Savion Hiter, edge rusher Carter Meadows, and wide receiver Salesi Moa, there were plenty of top-tier prospects fans were excited for.

But the one making the most waves in his first year wasn’t among those ballyhooed names.

As a recruit, edge rusher Tariq Boney did end up rising to four-star status on ESPN, which made his composite and industry rankings on 247Sports and On3 reflect that he was among that class. But each service actually had Boney as a three-star. And for the longest time, he was at or near the bottom of Michigan’s 2026 recruiting class.

However, as ESPN put out the 25 best freshmen through five weeks, Boney made the list beyond of five players to watch, while none of the other top names made the cut at all.

Tariq Boney, DE, MichiganA four-star recruit, Boney stood out against some of the best high schoolers in the nation as one of the top performers at last year’s Under Armour All-America game. So it’s no surprise he has carved out a role on a talented Michigan defense. Boney has been efficient in his pass-rush opportunities, notching a sack against both UTEP and Iowa. The Wolverines have fallen short of expectations so far, but Boney has been a bright spot.

As noted, Boney has two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss this year — the only freshman on defense to have registered numbers in either. As a matter of fact, PFF has Boney as the 41st-best edge rusher in terms of pass rush thus far, giving him an 83.5 grade.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan freshman Tariq Boney earns national recognition from ESPN

Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.