maurice freeman

This is my last round on crootin, as Ace will take over during the season and I can go back to caring about the players on the field (for other teams). There's a 2021 recruiting board and a 2022 recruiting board I left as well. Use in good health.

Over the last 8 months I've learned a lot about recruiting. I also learned being a recruit coveted by coaches around the country/region is much like being a swing voter when every politician on the ballot has your phone number.

In the process I have discovered five main themes that candidates running against Michigan will use in their negative campaigns, and you can usually tell the source from the type.

• A: Those coaches will be gone in a year. Whenever Michigan's doing well, Harbaugh's a candidate for every NFL opening and Brown's ready to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming the head coach of UConn. If Michigan's down, Harbaugh's getting fired and Brown's off to be the head coach of a high school in Chester's Mill, Maine.
• B: Michigan will never beat Ohio State. One time I literally saw Michigan end a game with more points than Ohio State, and they still didn't beat Ohio State, so this one's pretty on the nose.
• C: It's so cold up there that your boogers will freeze inside your nose and if you don't rub really hard and fast the frozen boogers will grow up your nasal canal and cause brain damage. You'd be amazed how many sunbelt kids come on a visit and are like "This is actually really nice," either because as elite athletes they're putting out so many BTUs that it's never less than 60℉ around them, or because it's October and actually 60℉.
• D: Michigan doesn't have any love for Michigan. This is a complaint heard mostly from some metro-Detroit high school coaches who are never pleased that Michigan recruits out-of-state, and from some players who have to go to some second-rate program nobody cares about like Kentucky or Michigan State because Michigan had eyes for some Florida speedster.
• E: Ann Arbor is Murder Capital, USA. "You're not from around there, so you don't know how rough it is in and around Detroit. Have you seen Robocop? Do you think your son would be safe there?" –Notre Dame, really.

I now understand why so many recruits respond to follow-up polling with "I just want to get it over with and focus on the season."

So let's do it.

[After the JUMP: Benny moves it back, McBurrows moving up?, a cornerback from distance]

That sound you hear outside is your FSU friend. For your health and safety, please read this before answering the door.

YOINK

So Michigan finally has a 2016 offensive tackle! Last night they secured a commitment from LA Tech (and onetime LSU commit) 2021 grad transfer OT Willie Allen. The 6'6"/345 Allen sat out this season because of COVID and entered the transfer portal a couple of days ago. Experiencing their own tackle hell, 247's FSU site jumped on the news that the Seminoles had been in contact. Alas, one of the OL super-rich wanted him more. Allen plans to enroll here next spring, when Mayfield is expected to be in the NFL.

I'll get more into it when I get around to a Hello next week but it's a good idea for Michigan to pursue grad transfers for the 2021 class. The NCAA won't be counting any current senior against the 85 cap next year, and a year of graduate education at a top-echelon grad school is some world-class bait. 

Your FSU friend is peeved about this, but not as much as he's going to be now that…

YOINKY YOINK.

As you no doubt noticed, Recent 4.5* FSU decommit Branden Jennings, a top-100 LB, is committing sometime today committed at exactly the same time this article was scheduled to post. Not that we were surprised; 247's Miami guy Andrew Ivins noted when the date was announced($), that Miami (YTM) hasn't communicated lately and Clemson is full, leaving just the M hat. This is how a near-5* sneaks into your class without raising an explosion.

Ace's hello post was a couple of hours ago but that's enough time for the sites to get their react articles up. 247's Steve Wiltfong has more from Jennings's head coach about Branden's college preparedness and what he meant by "Big Ten linebacker":

““He could go to practice with them tomorrow night after our game and you wouldn’t know which kid is from high school and he would look better than 75 percent of their linebackers and be just as intense as they are. ... They got themselves a vicious linebacker that just wants to hit. When I say vicious it’s between the rules. He plays football the way it’s supposed to be played and you’re going to be hit and driven. That kid is a Big Ten linebacker. I told him you remind me of (James) Laurinaits, those big inside Michigan, Michigan State linebackers hitting that 225-pound running back from Wisconsin on inside zone on 4th and 1.”

Rivals says Jennings is already up to 235 and also got Geis on record about readiness, though this time the Big Ten LB comp was to a former Illini:

“Branden breaks helmets. He plays so violent. He’s just different. He plays like Dick Butkus played back in the 1960s."

I take it he means Butkus when he wasn't getting planted on his ass by Jim Conley. There's some question about what position Jennings might play on the next level. We also neglected to mention his nickname is Godzilla. Quick watch of that tape (all at MLB) bears that out—he tackles, you stop—but his bend is his most impressive/translatable asset. Immediate and close comp is Victor Hobson, and I'll let you use Brown's imagination to figure out what that is in a modern defense—they're even ranked close together.

Sucks for the Noles; he was their highest-rated recruit, in addition to a legacy.

[After THE JUMP: Michigan may not be done raiding the Noles 2021 class. Little Bro wants to play Brandball. Your author adds recruits to the board]

Previously: Offense, Defensive Line, Hello posts for WDE/SAM Kechaun Bennett, SAM/WLB/MLB Tyler McLaurin, MLB/Viper Junior Colson, MLB/WLB Jaydon Hood, and WLB/FB Casey Phinney.

Michigan's mostly set at linebacker, with four or five commits already in the class depending on where you put recent commit Kechaun Bennett (he's here for now but headed for DE). Many of the guys in this class are like that. A brief overview of all of Michigan's positions on the spectrum between pure defensive lineman and pure defensive back can be found at post's end. 

The fellas again:

Icon	Name	Meaning
	Sad Josh	The genre of player with unrequited interest in Michigan. Unlikely to receive offers; most will eventually fade off the list and go to Duke or Michigan State or something.
	Nefarious Eduardo	Player is a longshot. Either they've declared someone else a leader publicly or popular opinion holds that they're likely to go to another school.
	Data	Either no opinion or Michigan is one of a fairly even group of chasing schools. Players in this category maintain no leader or change their leader frequently. The default category for players that we don't know much about yet.
	Happy Teeth	Players who have Michigan in a small leading group or have Michigan as a tenuous favorite. Should be regarded as a good shot, not a slam dunk.
	Mr. Blue	Player is either a verbal or is expected to be one sooner or later. Players with this designation are 65%+ to be Michigan commits.

To to the dudes!

SAM/WDE/Edge

Commit
Player	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Previously
Kechaun Bennett	CT	****	Michigan		Hello. Discussed on pod.
Tyler McLaurin	IL	***.5	Michigan		Hello
Targets
Player	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Previously
Darryl Peterson	OH	***	Wis leads Michigan, WVU, Bama, PSU
James Wilborn Jr.	CT	***	BC, Michigan, ND

Needs: Major. Josh Uche left for the NFL and none of the explicitly DE prospects Michigan has a good chance of landing seem like impact edge rushers. The guy on the roster getting talked up like he'll take on the role is Luigi Vilain, who's two injured season and another season of not playing away from the last time he was generating hype on the field.

Commits: Michigan recently picked up CT 4* DE Kechaun Bennett, who's already 6'4"/220, and who we believe will ultimately grow into a hand-in-the-dirt guy. That Hello ran too late to catch an excellent piece by MnB's Jonathan Simmons where he breaks down some plays from Bennett's film.

Don Brown is transitioning into a positionless scheme where standard positions are gone and everyone falls along a spectrum.

…

As mentioned above, Bennett is still pretty lanky. He does have room to pack on 30 to 40 pounds, which would put him around Josh Uche territory and a little lighter than Kwity Paye. The best thing about Bennett’s frame is that he is all limbs. His arms are really long, which is essential for pass rushers to keep separation from blockers.

This play from his highlight reel (no full games available) displays the advantage of his arm length well. Bennett shoves the tackle back, extending his arms out to keep him at bay, then swipes over the top to disengage and gets to the quarterback.

Given the state of the class it's reasonable to assume Michigan plans to use Tyler McLaurin like Noah Furbush. That role leans more coverage, with some pass rush and lots of taking on lead blockers. Since his commitment McLaurin went on EJ Holland's podcast and described himself as really fast downhill player who excels against TEs and H-backs. He didn't talk specifically about how he'll be used except the coaches love his length and want to see what he looks like after weight training. Allen Trieu also caught up with McLaurin and talked at length about how his recruitment played out.

Prospects: I wrote this section before the flood of commitments so might as well keep it, but for the record I think Bennett's pledge rules out anyone else.

It's hard to see them giving up on 3* DE/OLB Darryl Peterson however. EJ Holland confirmed that getting Ohioans Markus Allen and Rod Moore helps put Michigan back in the race for Peterson, an Akron (Archbishop Hoban) prospect the staff thinks was critically underrated by the sites. Unfortunately Wisconsin has been making Peterson a priority too. He's visited there multiple times, and talked to the UW 247 guy Evan Flood about committing the same day as friend/IA 4* LB TJ Bollers, a heavy Wisconsin lean. Flood thinks if the pair aren't Wisconsin's next OLB duo it's because they're Alabama's($). Peterson still plans to visit Michigan in late June if possible. Former teammate Nolan Rumler might be of assistance.

Last is James Wilborn Jr., a Connecticut prospect who rose into various top-250s after strong camps at ND and PSU last summer($), and fell back to obscure 3* over the winter. He loves Don Brown, but pursuit from all the big schools seems to have dried up.

[After THE JUMP: Things that didn't make it into recent Hellos, who plays what position, Seth adds a Viper to the board just because].