Michigan football team misses on elite linebacker recruit E.J. Levenberry

Finishing runner-up for a player that highly touted is never welcomed, but the Wolverines can adsorb the miss as well as anyone.

They already have two four-star linebackers verbally committed to their 2013 class in Ben Gedeon and Mike McCray -- the top two linebackers in Ohio, according to Scout.

That haul comes on the heels of a plentiful 2012 class, which featured four elite linebackers in Royce Jenkins-Stone, Joe Bolden, Kaleb Ringer and James Ross.

Jenkins-Stone is ranked by Scout as the top player in Michigan. Bolden and Ringer, both Ohio natives, already are on campus as early-enrolled true freshmen.

That brings the total to six elite incoming linebackers spanning the next two classes, which infuses significant depth at a position already brimming with young talent on the current roster.

Jake Ryan (strong side) and Desmond Morgan (weak side) started last year as freshmen.

The Wolverines' 2013 class numbers 17 commits, the most in the Big Ten.