What Michigan football is getting in new 4-star QB commit Jayden Denegral

When Apple Valley (Calif.) four-star quarterback traveled to Ann Arbor on Wednesday, he was the only remaining uncommitted top-20 signal-caller in the 2022 class.

He didn’t leave that way.

Denegal, the No. 265 overall prospect and No. 19 quarterback nationally, per 247Sports’ Composite rankings, threw in front of Michigan’s coaching staff in the morning and received an offer afterward. Before the 6-foot-4, 215-pounder returned home, he verbally pledged to the Wolverines.

Quarterback isn’t the top priority for Michigan this cycle after landing five-star J.J. McCarthy in the 2021 class, but the Wolverines’ coaches have watched as other targets at the position have committed elsewhere.

New Michigan quarterbacks coach watched Denegal at a satellite camp in Redlands, Calif., earlier this month and invited him to work out in front of Michigan’s coaches.

Apple Valley coach Kyle Godfrey knew his starting quarterback was heading to Michigan’s camp last week but was surprised how quickly his commitment transpired.

“I think his visit, and Michigan probably getting to know Jayden for the human being that he is, I’m sure sold them,” Godfrey told MLive in a phone interview. “Obviously, he’s a tremendous football player, but I think as soon as you meet Jayden, you’re gonna understand what type of kid he is and why they made that decision.”

Godfrey said Denegal was on colleges’ radar even before he reached high school, but he played on the freshman team his first year because of the depth at quarterback in front of him at Apple Valley.

Godfrey was the freshman coach at the time and said Denegal never played in the second half that season because they were leading big.

“The first thing that stands out about him to me is his competitiveness,” Godfrey said. “He’s a fierce competitor. “There was a lot of hype around him as far as the youth football goes. From day one, he was out to compete, out to prove everybody that he is as good as the hype is.

“We did things at that level that I don’t think a lot of teams do. We were no-huddle; we were using wristbands. We would watch the varsity games, kind of see what they did and say, ‘OK, let’s go try this.’ And he picked it up instantly.”

Denegal earned the starting job on varsity as a sophomore and had a strong season, leading the team to a 9-2 record while throwing for 2,260 yards and 34 touchdowns.

However, he rushed for just 14 yards as some scouts were skeptic about his athleticism.

Godfrey said he entered his junior year as a completely different player. California’s fall season was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Apple Valley was limited to just five games in the spring.

But Denegal shed about 10 pounds and evolved into more of a dual threat, Godfrey said.

Apple Valley finished 5-0 last season, including a 49-42 victory over a talented Culver City team that plays two divisions above Apple Valley.

Denegal ran for four touchdowns and 50 yards on 10 carries that game and also threw for 155 yards and a score.

“Last year was his coming out party,” Godfrey said. “Last year, he was working with a speed trainer trying to get that up, and that’s helped a lot. This year, we had specific designed runs with quarterback counters and some draws and things like that. He even had a couple escapes out of the pocket and got first downs for us. You could see that improvement, and I know he still wants to work on it a tremendous amount.”

In Michigan’s pro-spread offense, having a quarterback that can operate RPOs (run-pass option) is imperative. Godfrey believes Denegal fits that bill.

“I think our system is good because we do a little bit everything,” he said. “We run double tight ends, we go spread, we’ll throw the ball out, we’ll run some RPO stuff. We mix it up.I feel that what we’ve prepared our kids for will give Donegal that opportunity to kind of understand that multi-system per se. He’s going to be comfortable, I think, doing what they want him to do.”